Seeing Green
by Fateless Wanderer
Summary: Set Post DT: MMPR/DT Cross Over. While preparing for a reunion, a mishap with ranger technology causes a problem that Connor and his teammates can not handle alone. They're going to need the help of some old friends, and some new friends to deal with the consequences. Sequel to Chronology Conundrum.
1. Chapter 1

So I decided to post this now because I've gone back about 15 times since I initially wrote it and tweaked it. I'm crazy obsessing over it, so I just need to post and get it done with.

If you're new to my writing, this is a sequel fic, so some aspects of the plot might not make sense unless you read Chronology Conundrum first.

Anyway, hope you enjoy. Thanks in advance.

* * *

The weather man had predicted the summer was going to be one of the hottest on record, but most of the inhabitants of Reefside hadn't taken him quite literally. Sure, they'd figured extra sun tan lotion, maybe some higher electricity bills in order to avoid being too uncomfortable within their homes, but they hadn't actually expected scorching heat that would drive them inside most days that weren't spent on the beach – in the ocean. If they were brave enough to head to the beach, no one was stupid enough to try and stay out of the water. Even the beach front lacked its characteristic breeze and the water felt like a bath tub.

To avoid the heat, a man with short cropped brown hair in a spiked style, wearing a pair of khaki colored cargo shorts and a black t-shirt, had spent most of his summer indoors. Summer was one of the times he really realized how grateful he was to be a teacher. I meant he had no work or responsibility outside his home, and he could stay indoors within the nice cool air conditioned environment. However, after about a week of lazing about, his girlfriend had decided he had more important things to do with his life, including fixing up the lab in the basement that he'd been putting off as the semester at Reefside high school drew to a close. It had taken months, but by that point in July, his team's old command space was fixed up. Though there was really nothing left to keep watch over, or power to fight it off with. Still, his girlfriend had been right. Fixing it up had made him feel a whole lot better. And it had kept his mind too busy to think about anything else.

At present, he had his cell phone to his ear, a plate with a chicken vegetable wrap and a few potato chips on it in his hand, and he was descending down the stairs into the basement lab that was currently occupied by a red haired woman working on beside a device that very closely resembled a hair dryer chair that was more common place inside a beauty salon. She wore a black blouse and long skirt with a silver necklace. Her hair was pulled back away from her face in a low pony tail.

"So everything's sent for your flight home?" he asked the person on the other end of the line, as he greeted the woman in the room with a wave. She smirked and shook her head as he took a seat on the sofa nearby.

"That Kim?" she asked him, and he nodded in response. "Tell her I said hi," she informed him, getting another nod.

"Sounds great," he told Kimberly on the other end of the line. "Can't wait to see you. You sure you're alright flying home on your own?" he paused to let her answer the question. "Yeah, I know there's nothing I can do about that now," he laughed. "Oh, Haley says hi," he told her, before pulling the phone away from his mouth for a second. "She says hi back," he told Haley who chuckled slightly where she continued to work on the strange device. She was attaching a computer monitor to the side of the chair. It wouldn't allow the person in the seat to see the screen, but rather it would display the screen to anyone else observing. "Ok, have a safe flight. Call me when you reach your layover in London," he told Kimberly. "I know that's in like four hours," he laughed, "I just want to know you made it safe." He paused again, listening to her tell him something. "Yeah, I know. I love you, too. Bye," he stated, hanging up the phone.

"Everything alright with Kim in Paris?" Haley asked him, as he set his plate and phone down on a side table and walked over to her.

"Yeah," he replied, dragging his hand through his hair, his mind not completely in the present. "She had a nice visit with her mom and step dad. She's ready to come home though. It has been two weeks."

"She's just ready to be back here with you," Haley laughed, and he shrugged in response. "What time's her flight?"

"Nine at night, Paris time. She just got to the airport and was getting ready to head through security. It's already seven there."

"How long's the flight back?" Haley asked him, watching as he walked towards his desk and leaned back on it.

"An hour and a half from Paris to London," he replied, "and then she's got a two hour layover. So she'll be leaving London around twelve thirty in the morning her time. Then it's a ten and a half hour flight home. She'll be landing here around two in the morning."

"That sounds rough," Haley stated with a grimace on her face. "You picking her up from the airport?"

"I wanted to," he replied, as he picked up a photograph he'd had framed and added to his desk. It contained a recent photo of himself and Kimberly, once her bruises and burns had healed. Her leg had still been in a boot from the last ranger battle she'd been involved in, but since the photo was only of the waist up, it didn't show. She'd just gotten the ok to walk without the support of the boot before she'd decided to go spend a couple of weeks in Paris. She'd quit her old job in Florida almost immediately after she and Tommy had decided to move in together, and she'd been lucky enough to find that a local gymnasium was looking to hire a coach for their recreational only students, there in Reefside. The position started in the fall when school resumed, which meant she had her summer off as well. "But she wouldn't let me. With everyone supposed to be arriving tomorrow afternoon, she wanted me to get as much sleep as possible. She's taking a cab," he stated, frowning. Clearly not happy with that decision.

"She just doesn't want you to be late to your own reunion," she laughed at him.

"How would that even be remotely possible? Everyone's meeting here at the house," he retorted putting the photograph back down on his desk.

"For most people," she explained, "it wouldn't be. You're not most people."

"Ha ha ha," he laughed, giving her a playful glare in response. She smirked in response and went back to work.

"I take it the kids are excited?" Haley asked him, raising an eyebrow, as she started tightening some of the wires connecting the computer screen to the helmet like structure over the chair. She had moved beyond her tray of tools, and was currently clutching to wires between her finger tips. She frowned at the tools. "Tommy?" she asked, "can you hand me the pliers?"

Tommy pushed himself off the desk and walked over to her, grabbing the requested instrument and handing them to her, he leaned over the helmet of the device, crossing his arms and leaning forward. "I assume so," Tommy told her. "You see them more these days than I do," he replied, a bit of regret in his tone. Haley gave him a sympathetic look.

"They're still trying to adjust," Haley told him. "Coming around here can be a bit too painful for them, remembering what was. And they're also a little worried about the future."

"I know," Tommy replied, "I don't blame them. I remember how hard the adjustment from ranger to non-ranger was the first time."

"I remember your last one before this. It was rough," Haley glared at him, an amused smile on her face. Tommy glared back with a similar joking expression on his face. "And," Haley stated, "They've also been trying to give you and Kimberly space to get reacquainted."

"Yeah right," Tommy laughed, standing up and moving away from the device. "Connor just doesn't want to admit that I can have a life beyond teaching high school science and being a power ranger." Haley laughed with him. He actually had a valid point on that one. Haley sighed and looked down at her watch.

"Alright," she stated, "I need to head out," she told him.

"Is it finished?" he asked her, frowning. It didn't look finished.

"No," Haley told him, getting a slight pout from her friend. She laughed and shook her head. "Oh quit that. I'll finish it when I get back next week. You'll have plenty of time to show it off to your friends during the second week of the reunion. Besides, don't you want to wait until Billy gets here before you give it a try?"

Tommy didn't look convinced, but he sighed and nodded, his shoulders slumping in slight disappointment. "I guess," he pouted.

Haley laughed at him, filing all of her tools away in her tool box. "Trust me," she told him, "as soon as I get back from my meeting at MIT, I'll have it up and running for you," she told him, before shutting the tool box and turning back to face him. "Last you heard, Ethan's sure he didn't want to come with me?"

"He was sure," Tommy said with a nod. "He had orientation back in June, so he's already gotten the chance to have a look around the campus," he explained, following Haley back up the stairs into the actual house. He sealed the lab behind them. "Besides," he added in, "you're right. They're freaking out about going their separate ways next month." Haley nodded understanding. "What's time's your flight?"

"About three hours," she told him, "which is why I need to get going now. I need to stop off by Cyberspace and make sure everything's good."

"I'm sure Trent will have it all under control," Tommy assured her.

"I know," she replied, as he followed her to the front door. "You going to be ok on your own?"

"Kim will be here in the middle of the night, and the others get here tomorrow. I can't get into too much trouble," he laughed, and Haley shook her head. "Have a safe flight. Call me when you get to Boston?"

She shook her head no. "We already discussed this. The whole point of the meeting is to discuss how to make technology less obtrusive in our lives. I'd be a hypocrite if I kept my phone glued to me the whole time. Unless you hear about a plane crash, assume I'm safe."

"Fine," Tommy stated, sighing at the same time. "Can I at least get a text message, like on Wednesday or something so I at least know you're alive?"

"Sure dad," Haley mocked him, giving him a quick hug goodbye before she headed off to her car. Tommy watched her go before heading back inside the house. He closed the door, sighed, and realized for a moment, he didn't really much like the quiet.

* * *

Four very brave teenagers hung out on a mostly deserted beach. There were people around, but definitely not the usual numbers that hit the beach front during the summer in Reefside. It was a testament to exactly how hot it actually was. The first of the three recent high school graduates was a tall boy with wavy brown hair that hung slightly past his ears. He wore a red pair of swim trunks, a pair of black flip flops, and black sunglasses with bright red polarized lenses. He was bouncing a soccer ball on his knees, playing keep away with the sand. Of the four, he was the only one who was out from underneath the shaded canopy of the large beach umbrella they'd set up, and considering he'd forgotten to re-apply his sun screen, his shoulders were paying for it. They were nearly the same color as his swim trunks.

"Connor," the only girl in the group called out to him. "You might want to think about putting on a shirt, or at least some SPF six hundred or something," she told him, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. Her long dark blond, wavy hair was tied back in a braid and then coiled into a bun on top of her head. It was just way too hot to let it be down over the back of her neck. She wore a dark grey bikini that had yellow accents on the strings that tied around her neck and back, and around her waist. Since the sand was cooler in the shade, she was barefoot, her toes dug into the sand, but she was seated on a multicolored towel, sharing it with the only other lighter skinned individual in their group.

"Kira," the Hispanic youth on her right told her, "If Connor wants to cook himself, I say let him," he added in. Like Connor, he was topless. His silver sunglasses were on his head instead of over his eyes, standing out against his short cropped black hair. His swim trunks were white, with accents of teal and yellow splashed across them.

"Ha ha to both of you," Connor stated, although he did catch the ball in midair and step underneath the shade of the umbrella. He folded his legs underneath himself and lifted his sunglasses off his eyes, before glancing at his right shoulder and wincing when he saw how red it actually was.

"Uh huh," the other boy scoffed at him, extending a bottle of sun screen towards him. Connor gave him a reluctant smile in response.

"Thanks Trent," he stated, as a two toned beep went off three times from his left. He, Kira, and Trent all paled, their muscles tensing at the sound as their eyes darted around them in panic. Connor even brought his wrist up to his mouth, only to find that there was nothing there.

"Sorry guys," the fourth member of their group of friends stated, with an apologetic smile on his face. He had his head withdrawn into his shoulder, and his cheeks were flushed slightly with embarrassment. "My bad; I forgot the sounds from this game are similar," he explained, indicating the hand held gaming device he had. The dark skinned boy with the short black hair was sitting in an orange and green stripped beach chair, where a pair of swim trunks stripped in various shades of blue. He also wore a blue tank top, and khaki colored flip flops. His friends glared at him for a moment, but then sighed.

"Thanks for the heads up, Ethan," Kira told him, rolling her eyes. Connor and Trent laughed nervously, but they all let the tension slowly fade.

"Wishful thinking, huh guys?" Connor asked the group, and all four of them nodded as Ethan folded his hand held game away.

"Maybe not entirely," Ethan stated. "I definitely don't miss sore muscles or bruises I can't explain."

"Or having to run off and come up with random explanations," Trent put it.

"Or fiery explosions and being thrown thru the air," Kira added, with a grin.

"Ok," Connor laughed, "you all have a point," he stated, tossing his ball back and forth from one hand to the other. "You don't miss it at all?"

"Of course we do," Kira laughed at him, noticing how his face had fallen. "But you have to admit," she continued, "it is nice to know that Reefside is safe."

"True," Connor stated with a nod.

"And we have learned, once a ranger," Ethan stated.

"Always a ranger," his three friends finished with him, grins on their faces. Ethan nodded.

"You guys as psyched for tomorrow as I am?" he asked them.

"Absolutely," Trent laughed. "We haven't seen everyone since like March," he laughed.

"Think Dr. O is ready?" Connor asked them, spinning the soccer ball.

Kira nodded in response. "He said that he and Haley were working on something special for the reunion," she stated, glancing at her watch which showed that it was nearing three in the afternoon. "Haley's flight have left about an hour ago, which means he's all alone until Kimberly gets home tonight."

"What do you say we go pay him a visit?" Connor suggested.

"You just want to get out of having to go in the ocean again," Ethan told him, and Connor shrugged. His friends had been working with him all summer on his inability to swim. Something about making sure he could survive on his own once the fall came. Unfortunately, it wasn't going very well.

"That's just an added bonus," Connor laughed, as the group stood up and began to pack up their things, making sure they had everything before they departed from the beach.

* * *

A young woman, still a few years shy of thirty yawned, as she rolled her carry-on bag behind her, a small cup of coffee purchased only a few minutes before from one of the eighteen Starbucks she just happened to pass, in her hand. She fought a second yawn as she tucked herself into a seat in the corner. It was approximately eleven thirty at night, and she still had another half hour to go before her flight to Reefside started to board. She set the coffee in between her knees and pulled a hair tie off of her wrist, tying her long brown hair back into a high pony tail. Since her flight was so late, and she still had another ten and half hours until she reached home, she was dressed in a pair of black sweat pants, and a hot pink t-shirt. Her face was completely devoid of make-up, but she didn't care much, seeing as she'd be getting home at about two in the morning, California time, and her plan was to immediately crawl into bed. Luckily the airport wasn't too incredibly far from the home she shared with her boyfriend.

Feeling the threat of a third yawn, she picked up her coffee cup and took a long sip off of it. She'd didn't want to stay too awake, as sleep was her plan for the flight home, but she was worried she'd fall asleep before they called for boarding. She'd had a long two weeks visiting her parents in Paris, and she knew she had another long, although fun, she hoped, two weeks coming up. She just wished she'd planned things better.

Glancing at her watch and realizing it was just half past three in the afternoon back at home, she pulled out her cellphone and began to dial, happy that she'd purchased a few calling cards before she left. The other end of the line rang a few times, and she was pretty sure it was going to go to their answering machine when she heard someone on the other end pick up.

"Hey Kim," a cheerful female voice answered the line. She knew the girl's identity, but she hadn't expected it, so she laughed slightly, caught off guard.

"Hi Kira," Kimberly replied, keeping her voice quiet so she didn't disturb the other travelers in the terminal. "I didn't know you guys were coming over today," she stated.

"We decided to swing by and surprise Dr. O since we knew he'd be alone once Haley left," Kira replied. Kimberly nodded, realizing that the girl couldn't see her.

"Good idea," she added. "You gonna make sure everything is set for tomorrow?"

"That's the plan," Kira replied. "Did you have a good trip?" she asked the older woman.

"Oh yeah," Kimberly replied, "It was great. Mom took me shopping," she giggled, imaging Kira rolling her eyes. "I bought you guys each something," she added.

"What'd you get us?" Kira asked, amusement in her voice.

"You'll have to wait and see when I get home," Kimberly retorted. "How's everything been there? I mean I know Tommy's still alive, but he has had Haley around."

"It's been quiet," Kira replied, and Kimberly heard the slight disappointment in the girl's voice.

"It gets easier," Kimberly told her, trying to be as comforting as she could over the phone. She still remembered the day a few months before when the teenagers and Tommy had used every drop of energy that was left in the dino gems to defeat Mesogog once and for all. Reefside was safe, but they were no longer rangers as a result. They'd joined the elite club of "formers" as she had dubbed them.

"Dr. O keeps reminding us of that," Kira stated.

"He is right about things every so often," Kimberly told her, and she heard Kira start laughing. "Don't tell him I said that," Kimberly instructed her.

"No kidding," Kira laughed, "it'll go straight to his head."

"And then we'll never hear the end of it," Kimberly laughed in response. "Where is he by the way?" she asked. "He wanted me to call during my layover."

"Fell asleep on the couch," Kira told her. "We found him that way when we let ourselves in."

"Is he still asleep?" Kimberly giggled, not at all surprised by the description of what her boyfriend was currently doing.

"If the guys haven't woken him up yet," Kira stated. "Hang on, I'll go check," she added in, and Kim realized that wherever Kira was, she must not have been in the same room as he was. "Nope," Kira's voice came back after a moment. "He's still out. You want me to wake him?"

"Yes please," Kimberly replied sweetly.

"Sure thing," Kira replied. "Hey Ethan," Kim heard Kira stated. "Can you put your game by his head and make that sound go off?" Kimberly frowned, not understanding what Kira was getting at. Ethan must have replied, and done something because the next thing she heard was yelling and laughter.

"Damn it! Connor!" she heard Tommy's voice in the background.

"What? It wasn't me this time!" Connor's voice replied, though it was apparent the teenage boy was struggling to produce words through his laughter.

"Here Dr. O," Kira's voice stated, loud and clear. She must still have been holding the phone still. "It's Kimberly," she added, and Kim figured she was passing off the phone during the moment of silence that followed.

"Hey beautiful," Tommy spoke into the phone.

Kimberly giggled at the slight irritation she heard underlying his greeting. She knew it wasn't toward her, but rather the teenagers currently inhabiting their house. "Hey handsome," she replied. "What'd they do?"

"Little brats played the sound of our communicators right near my head," Tommy replied, and Kimberly broke down laughing, tears streaming from her eyes. "I'm so glad you find my misery amusing."

"I'm sorry," she replied trying to catch her breath and mostly failing. The other people in the terminal were starting to stare at her. She gave them apologetic smiles as she worked on getting herself under control. "That's just hilarious. Let me guess, you jumped sky high?"

"Yes," he admitted reluctantly. "Are you done?" he asked her, indicating her giggling.

"Probably not," she confessed, "but I'll try. Oh man," she added, "they got you good. That just made my night."

"Glad to be of service," Tommy pouted, sighing. "Your first flight go smooth?"

"Completely," Kimberly confirmed with a nod. "Even breezed through customs. We'll be boarding soon."

"Good," he replied, "you'll be home soon. I miss you."

"I miss you too," she confirmed. "We weren't even apart this long when I moved my stuff from Florida."

"Hey," he told her, hearing a bit of sadness in her voice. "Think about it this way. We spent almost a decade apart. Two weeks is nothing. We can handle it. We're in the home stretch," he assured her.

"Eleven hours," she confirmed with a nod, "at least till I touch down on American soil."

"And only about an hour after that until you're home in bed," Tommy told her.

"I was thinking about that," she told him. "I don't want to wake you. What if I just sleep in the spare room when I get home?" she asked him.

"Not a chance," Tommy replied immediately. "You already won't let me come get you from the airport. You'd better at least wake me to tell me you are home when you get into bed," he added in.

Kimberly smirked slight and nodded. She'd secretly hopped that was going to be his answer. "Ok," she stated.

"Promise?" Tommy asked her, and she could hear the pout.

"I promise," Kimberly giggled. She glanced up at the entrance to her gate, noticing the gate agents had propped open the door. "Hey handsome," she stated. "They're gonna call for boarding in a minute and I need to freshen up first," she told him. Tommy laughed slightly, realizing she wouldn't exactly tell him she had to use the bathroom.

"Alright," he told her, "but have a safe flight. I'll see you soon," he told her.

"I will," Kimberly replied. "I love you."

"I love you too," Tommy replied and the two of them hung up at the same time. Tommy stood up and stretched, looking around the living room and realizing the teenagers had disappeared. He placed the handset back on the base and checked in the kitchen, not finding the four of them. If they weren't in the living room or kitchen, there was only one other place they would have gone.

Sighing, Tommy made his way to the basement, climbing down the stairs, his eyes settling on the four teenagers who were scattered around their former command post. "There you are," he stated, looking them over. Connor was standing off to the side spinning his soccer ball. Trent and Kira were on the sofa talking to one another, and Ethan was investigating the salon chair looking device he and Haley had been working on.

"Hey Dr. O," Ethan greeted him, looking up from the weird device. "This the thing you and Haley been working on?"

"Yes Ethan, it is," Tommy told him, laughing slightly at the enthusiastic look on Ethan's face. It reminded him of the teenager's reaction every time they got a new zord or Haley presented them with a new piece of equipment. Ethan looked like a kid in a candy store with permission to get whatever he wanted.

"What's it do?" Trent asked, walking over with Kira.

"Connor," Tommy stated, "stop with the ball," he commanded. Connor rolled his eyes, but didn't stop. Tommy rolled his eyes in response and turned his attention to Trent. "I was going to keep it a surprise, but Haley says it won't be ready until next week. So, I won't make you guys wait that long."

"Thanks," Kira laughed. "So what's it do?"

"Well," he stated, "if it works," he continued, slipping into the seat and bringing the helmet down over his head to demonstrate. "The helmet will capture brain waves from thoughts and transform them into images on that screen," Tommy told them, nodding towards the screen just to the side.

"You invented a way to read minds?" Ethan laughed. "Dude that's sweet!"

"Not read minds, per say," Tommy stated. "It's a way to project thoughts and memories," he explained. "I figured during the reunion, we could take turns thinking about different memories. Rather than retelling stories, we could watch them," he laughed.

"As long as you don't think of something embarrassing, that should go well," Kira stated. "With my luck, I'd think about the day I got stuck as Adam, and that's not exactly something I want to relive," she laughed.

"I still don't quite understand it," Connor stated, still bouncing the ball on his knee, counting slightly. His friends figured he was attempting to see how long he could keep it off the floor.

Tommy sighed and shook his head. "Ok Connor," he stated, "Let's say I want to relive my early days as a power ranger with my friends. Instead of sitting and talking about it, I sit in this chair, place the helmet over my head, and start thinking about it. My memories then get transferred from my thoughts to that screen right there," he explained, pointing. Connor turned his head to follow his hand, and missed the ball, which rolled off the edge of his foot and collided with the top of the machine, which started to vibrate and smoke.

"Oh crap!" Connor stated as sparks started to fly from the machine. "I didn't mean it!"

"Don't just stand there," Trent yelled at him, "we've got to get Dr. O out of there!"

"How?" Kira shouted, panicking as smoke enveloped their teacher, who began coughing.

"I've got an idea," Ethan stated, diving behind the machine and simply unplugging it. The sparks stopped and the smoke began to clear. "Dr. O!" Ethan stated, "Are you alright?" he asked. Coughing was the only response, but his tone sounded slightly off.

"Dr. O! I'm so sorry! I'll never bring a ball down here again," Connor stated, moving toward the machine and lifting the dome like top off of his former teammate and teacher's head, as the smoke continued to thin out. Connor paused and began to blink his mouth falling open as he examined the occupant of the chair. Where a man with short cropped spiked brown hair had been sitting a moment before, there was now a teenage boy, younger even than Connor and his friends, with similar features. His hair was thick and swept back off his forehead. It was a deep brown color and reached just past his shoulders in the back. The boy was coughing into his hands, his eyes squinted shut. Around him, Connor heard Kira, Ethan and Trent run up. He transferred his gaze from the boy to Kira, and then to Ethan, and then finally to Trent. Each of them wore the same mouth open gape and completely confused and bewildered expression that he did. Connor blinked a few times, looking back at the boy. "Dr. O?" he asked.

The boy swallowed his last few coughs as the smoke completely subsided. He looked up and made eye contact with Connor, his expression one of someone trying to hide an immense amount of fear, and almost succeeding. "Who are you? Where am I?" he asked, scrambling out of the chair, and backing away from the four teenagers who all exchanged looks with one another.

"Shit," Connor stated simply.

* * *

So, updates for this one will be a lot slower than the initial story. I'm thinking min of 1 chapter per week if I can manage. My students are submitting papers that I have to grade, plus, this one is a bit more difficult. No ranger powers to play with so its actually more work to write. But I've got some entertaining situations in mind as the story progresses.

Reviews as always are appreciated and loved.

Fateless


	2. Chapter 2

Just a couple days earlier than I planned, but for your enjoyment, I submit chapter 2.

* * *

All Connor could think at that moment was that the situation was bad – very, very bad. He wasn't one hundred percent clear on what the machine was supposed to have done, but he was pretty sure that this was not the intended outcome. After they'd spent half a week regressed, he doubted Tommy had wanted them to relive that experience; physically or mentally. And yet, he couldn't even begin to deny that the teenage boy pressed against the wall in front of him was a younger version of his former teammate. Connor blinked a few times, his mouth falling open, but his eyes staying locked on to the teenager who was clearly in panic mode. Unlike the last time he'd regressed, it appeared that Tommy did not remember his actual self. The boy's eyes were darting around, switching from one of the four older teenagers to another. His hands were patting at his pants, which were definitely looser. For a brief moment, his right hand went to his left wrist, and his eyes grew wider as his skin paled further.

"Dr. O," Connor stated, putting his hands out in front of him in a manner someone would use to calm a wild animal. "Just calm down, alright?"

"Who?" the boy asked, his face a mixture of confusion and a glare of anger. He shifted into a defensive posture, one leg forward and bent and his fists raised in front of his chest and face. "Listen, I don't know who this Dr. O person is, but if you're working with Rita, I'll..."

"Rita?" Connor snorted. "There is no way in hell we'd work with some evil alien bent on world domination. Where'd you even come up with that?" he scoffed.

"Dude," Ethan addressed Connor. "Look around," he continued, indicating the not entirely brightly lab. The walls, ceiling, and floors were made of stone. There were dinosaur footprints emblazoned on the walls. The place was a bit creepy looking if you'd never been there before. "I mean, I'm impressed you remembered your history lesson, but it's clear how his mind reached that conclusion."

"What have you done with my morpher?" the boy shouted at them. While Connor and Ethan had exchanged words, he'd gone back to searching the pockets of his shorts, and had obviously come up empty.

Kira rolled her eyes at her three teammates, trying to display a relaxed stance to the teenage boy whose eyes were desperately darting between the four of them while at the same time looking for some type of exit. She knew if he found one and bolted before they could explain anything, they'd be a lot worse off. "Listen, Tommy, right?" she asked him, trying to put him more at ease. She was slightly weirded out by addressing him by his first name, but told herself it was no different from talking to the teenager she'd spent two weeks with that past spring. The boy gulped, but nodded, realizing the teenagers knew his name. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad yet. "We're friends, ok? I promise we're not going to hurt you. We didn't take your morpher." She was actually pretty sure the one he was referring to hadn't been used in a very long time.

"How do I know you're not lying?" Tommy spat back at her, his eyes darting from one of them to another. The teenagers realized that this Tommy was a lot more skeptical and distrustful than the teenager they'd met in ninety five.

Kira exhaled sharply and looked from one of her friends to another, her expression begging them to come up with something. She was still trying to piece together what had happened. Although it did seem to happen to people in her life, she was pretty sure that Tommy spontaneously going from adult to teenager wasn't something she was supposed to be able to understand.

"We know your name, right. That's gotta mean something to you," Trent stated. When Tommy didn't look convinced, but rather just deepened his glare, Trent sighed. "Until we can figure out how to explain," Trent told the boy, stepping a bit closer to him and Tommy backed up slightly, but didn't drop his defense, "you're going to have to trust us. We are the good guys," he stated. "Rita's gone."

"Gone?" Tommy frowned. "Now I know you're lying."

"Tommy," Ethan put in. "You're a power ranger, yeah?" he stated and Tommy blinked. He'd assumed he'd been kidnapped which meant they knew he was a ranger, but it was still surprising to hear it stated out loud. "You're used to strange things happening." Tommy just frowned at Ethan's statement. "I'll find a way to prove it to you in a moment, but you're in the year two thousand and four."

"What?" Tommy stated, his shock causing him to drop his hands out of his defensive posture. He stared at the teenagers, his mouth open.

"It's true," Connor told him, with a nod. He looked between Trent and Ethan, trying to come up with a way to prove it to the boy.

"You're telling me I traveled to the future?" Tommy asked, frowning and glaring at them again in disbelief. His lack of defense wasn't that he trusted them, but more that he was pretty sure the four were so delusional they probably weren't capable of taking him down easily. After all, he'd been fought tougher. He was tougher than they looked.

"Not exactly," Trent stated, grimacing and running his hand over the back of his neck. He was pretty certain that the device had not pulled Tommy's past self out of the past, but rather had reduced Tommy to the physical and mental version of himself he'd been during the time that he'd been using as an example when trying to explain the device to Connor. Or something like that. It was hard enough for him to follow; he wasn't sure he could verbally explain it. He looked over to Kira who had run to Tommy's desk and grabbed two of the photographs that were framed on it.

"Here," Kira stated, handing one of them to Tommy. Tommy blinked for a moment, his eyes scanning the six individuals in the picture.

"This is me?" he stated, as he recognized his own face in the photograph, but there was enough inflection in his voice to indicate it was a question. "But that's not possible. I'm the green ranger," he stated, looking up from the photograph of the half morphed rangers to the four teenagers in front of him. The other five were definitely his friends. Maybe a year or so older than they currently were in his mind. And they were clad in their respective colors. It was the fact that his suit was white that disconcerted him. That and he and the red ranger stood back to back, arms crossed over their chests, smiling.

"You're a little older there than you are currently," Kira explained, not using the word 'now'. Now, he should be nearing thirty. Kira was pretty sure he might be half that, maybe. "But, this is you now," she stated, handing him the second framed picture. Tommy frowned this time, looking over the photograph of a definitely older version of himself, and a woman he was pretty sure was Kimberly. He gulped. He hadn't even worked up the courage to ask her out yet. But clearly, something was going on between the two of them. Why else would he be standing with his arms wrapped around her shoulders? He looked up back at the teenagers.

"How?" Tommy asked them, handing the frames back to Kira, his face was practically white, and his hands were shaking slightly. He wasn't sure what he feared more: the idea that the teenagers were lying to him, the idea that they were telling the truth, or the fact that Kimberly and he seemed to be more than friends.

"Technology malfunction," Ethan stated, flicking his eyes to the chair that was still sparking every so often. Tommy followed his gaze, a frantic look still in his eyes.

"This can't be true," Tommy protested, shaking his head. He was so freaked out by what was happening that he was having a very hard time processing what was going on or accepting anything the teenagers were telling him. He backed away from them again, more fear in his eyes now than when he'd thought that they were Rita's henchmen and that he was currently in some kind of dark dimension. "You're just trying to trick me!" he stated, although his former teammates heard uncertainty in his voice.

"But it is," Connor emphasized the last word. He sighed and looked up and around the room, trying to think. He leaned forward and grabbed the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb. "Look," he stated. "If we were going to hurt you, don't you think we would have done it by now?" Tommy just continued to glare at him. "What's his name," Connor continued, frowning as he tried to recall what Tommy had taught them of the legacy they were part of, "Goldar right? Giant flying monkey creature?" he looked at his friends for confirmation that he'd gotten it right. Ethan nodded to him, and Connor shifted his gaze back to Tommy. "He wouldn't be standing here trying to explain things. He'd be trying to gut you with his sword."

"I guess," Tommy stated.

"So you agree," Kira asked him. "You know we're not going to hurt you?"

"It could be a trap," Tommy replied "but I suppose it's unlikely," he added, slightly reluctantly, and the four teenagers let out sighs of relief.

"Good," Trent told him with a nod.

"Yeah," Connor continued. "So, why don't you have a seat over there for a minute and give us a chance to figure out what's going on?" He pointed his arm behind Tommy, indicating the leather sofa where Kira and Trent had been sitting earlier.

"You don't know either?" Tommy asked them, he asked the taller teenager, glaring at him slightly, and distrust still evident in his expression.

Kira sighed and let a slight smile grace her lips as she stepped closer to him. She was relieved when Tommy did not back away. "Not completely, no. We know more than you apparently do, but we need to figure out what went wrong," she explained, trying to be as nice and calm about it as possible. "So, yeah, why don't you do what Connor suggested and just take a seat?"

"Connor?" Tommy frowned, looking over her shoulder. Kira exhaled sharply, and gave him a closed mouth smile that was pretty much translated into 'of course you has no idea who each of us are'.

"That's Connor," she said, pointing at the tall boy in the red. Connor bit his lip and gave Tommy a slight wave, feeling awkward about having to be introduced to his former teammate and friend. "That's Ethan and Trent," she added, pointing at each of the other boys in turn. They each inclined their head at their name. "And I'm Kira. Like I said, we are friends," she stressed the word friends. Tommy just sighed and shook his head. Kira placed her hands on his shoulders, and steered him towards the sofa. "Sit. Try and relax. Give us like five minutes," she stated, before turning her back on him as he sat down on the leather sofa, mumbling something underneath his breath. When she was facing her friends again, she let the panic she'd been hiding from Tommy back into her expression. "Now what?"

"I don't know!" Ethan replied as the four of them grouped into a circle. He cast a glance over his shoulder at Tommy. "He's definitely regressed; and to a point younger than we've ever known him before. He not even as old as we are!"

"He did say he was the green ranger," Trent replied. "But he's not evil. That's for sure."

"Dr. O was remembering his early days as a ranger. So he's got to have regressed to the point between being evil and losing the green ranger powers," Kira stated. "Which is just great," she added sarcastically.

"This is the last time I am ever bringing a soccer ball down here," Connor stated and his friends all rolled their eyes at him. Kira snatched the ball he was still hold out of his hands and glared. Connor sighed and nodded. "We've got to fix this. But we need help."

"From who?" Ethan hissed. "In case you've forgotten, Haley's on plane to Boston right now. And she said she was going to try and take a break from her technology. I don't see her checking her phone any time soon."

"And Billy's out of contact on Aquitar while they get the teleportation system up and running. We can't get a hold of him until next Friday," Trent added.

"Did you say Billy?" Tommy's voice called from the sofa. The four teenagers looked at him. He was perched on the edge of the sofa, fear still evident in his eyes and in his posture, but they saw something that might have been hope in his face when he asked the question.

"Friends remember," Connor stated with a nod, hoping that the boy took the fact that they knew Billy as a sign that they could really be trusted. Tommy frowned deeper and shook his head. Connor sighed and turned his attention back to the others. "Kim's on the flight back home now too," he continued, dropping his volume so they wouldn't be overheard again. "So she's out. Aww, man, she's so going to kill me when she finds out." His teammate's rolled their eyes at Connor's dilemma.

"What about the others? Maybe Adam has some idea how to fix this?" Ethan suggested. "He did help Billy a lot."

"It's worth a shot," Trent stated, pulling out his cell phone and finding the correct number. He hit the auto caller and held the phone to his ear, waiting as it rang. After a while it went to voicemail. Trent bit his lip and looked at his friends.

"Try Rocky? Maybe they're together?" Kira suggested and Trent nodded switching to another contact. Once again, the phone rang and went to voicemail. All four teenagers frowned, trying to come up with another plan.

"I've got an idea," Ethan stated, breaking away from them and going over to the computers. He searched for Tommy's video caller and found the program, then searched through the contacts and found Adam's. Connor and Kira went over to Tommy and sat down beside him, one on either side. Connor leaned forward and held his head in his hands, while Trent followed Ethan and leaned over his shoulder, supporting his upper body with his arms on the desk.

"You guys figure anything out?" Tommy asked Kira and Connor. Connor snorted a cynical laugh, and Kira glared at him, placing the soccer ball on the floor and pushing it under the sofa.

"Nothing except that Connor is not allowed to play soccer in here," she told the boy. "How you holding up?"

"I'm really confused," Tommy admitted, "but I don't really think you're working for Rita. Still,"

"No," Kira told him, shaking her head and smiling at him. "We're definitely not, but you still don't trust us?" she added a slight laugh, and Tommy shook his head. "We're working on the confusing and the trusting parts, ok?"

"Yeah," Tommy stated with a nod, leaning forward and holding his head in his hands, mimicking Connor. The whole thing was giving him a major head ache. He just wanted to go home.

"Connor! Kira!" Ethan called from the computer, "I got them!" he added, and Connor bolted straight over. Kira patted Tommy on the shoulder before following her former leader. All four teenagers gathered around the computer screen as slightly blurry images of two men appeared on the screen. Both were pretty muscular. The first had lighter brown hair buzzed short on the sides, with a bit of height on the top and back, dressed in a red t-shirt. The second was of half Asian descent, with his black hair in a mini fauxhawk and a ring of light facial hair around his mouth. He wore a black tank top.

"Guys?" The first, Rocky, asked concern, apprehension, and fear in his expression, "What's going on? The computer went off like twelve times." Once or twice, and the kids were just eager to talk to him. But twelve. His gut told him something was wrong.

"Yeah," Ethan laughed nervously. "We kind of needed to get in touch with you guys," he stated.

"We were teaching our last class before heading home to finish packing. You do remember we'll see you in person tomorrow, right?" the second man, Adam, asked them.

"We know," Connor stated, rubbing the back of his neck. "We just kind of have a slight problem, and Haley, Kim, and Billy are out of contact at the moment," he stated. Adam and Rocky both frowned.

"Slight problem?" Adam asked, suspicion and if he was honest, a bit of dread in his voice.

"Ranger related," Kira stated, grimacing at the deep glares she received in return.

"Didn't you all defeat Mesogog and lose your powers?" Rocky stated, not breaking the glare he was giving them.

"Yep," Trent stated simply, nodding slightly.

"What part of normal reunion wasn't clear?" Adam asked them, sighing. "Ranger issues were not part of the deal."

"All I wanted was a damn barbeque!" Rocky growled.

"Blame Connor," Kira answered, with a bit of a smirk. She folded her arms over her chest and jerked her thumb at the red clad teenager.

"Hey!" Connor stated. "It wasn't entirely my fault. Haley and Dr. O designed the stupid thing," he stated.

"So why not get Tommy's help with this 'slight problem'?" Rocky told them.

"Cause," Ethan grimaced, "he's kind of the slight problem. Maybe we should call it a little problem," he suggested, and his three friends all rolled their eyes at him, shaking their heads.

"Come again?" Adam stated, raising an eyebrow, as he watched Connor turn away from the computer screen and look back over his shoulder.

"Hey," he called someone off camera. "Come over here a minute, will you?" Connor added. There was a pause as the teenage boy came over to them, frowning, and Connor used his hands to guide the boy forcefully in between himself and Ethan.

"What the fuck!" Rocky shouted, his eyes going wide, clearly realizing what the problem was, despite the grainy video image.

"We're going to need to work on your definitions of slight problems," Adam stated, unable to fully close his mouth.

"Um…" the teenager stated, looking between Kira, Connor, Ethan, and Trent. "Who are they?"

Connor sighed and rolled his eyes. "Tommy, just go sit back down." He was irritated that their idea was clearly not going to work. If Tommy didn't know Adam and Rocky, the only people that they knew that he seemed to know were out of contact for a while, which meant they were royally screwed.

"OK," the boy said, confusion on his face as he drew out each syllable in exasperation. Kira watched him walk back to the sofa, and she was pretty sure he was muttering something under his breath, irritation and distrust in his tone.

"I take it he's too young to know you guys either?" Ethan asked the two men on the other end of the video chat. Rocky had the side of his face grasped in his hand, his eyes closed. Adam sighed and nodded.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

"He regressed," Trent offered.

"I can see that," Adam practically shouted at him, rolling his eyes. Tommy was not supposed to be a teenage boy. "How did it happen?"

"Dr. O was showing us some new machine he and Haley were working on for the reunion," Connor started. Ethan rolled his eyes.

"It was supposed to be able to translate your thoughts into visual representations on a screen for everyone to see," Ethan explained. "Dr. O wanted you all to be able to relive you memories."

"Trading stories wasn't enough for him," Rocky muttered, rolling his eyes. "Go on," he commanded.

"It wasn't finished yet," Ethan continued, "but Dr. O sat in it to demonstrate how it would work. Connor kind of hit it with his soccer ball, and next thing we know there's sparks and smoke, and him," Ethan stated, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

"He doesn't know who we are. It's not like the last time he regressed," Kira stated. "His mind's gone back as well as his body."

"So he doesn't trust you," Adam finished her thought. Kira, Connor, Ethan, and Trent nodded. "He's a ranger?" he asked.

"Yeah," Connor confirmed. "Green."

"That must be the time he was thinking about," Rocky stated, with a nod. "At least he's familiar with strange occurrences," he added in. "He hasn't tried to kill you, has he?"

"Nope," Kira and Trent replied at the same time. "I doubt those are memories he'd want to relive," Kira added in on her own, getting nods from Rocky and Adam as the two adult former rangers appeared to be thinking over the situation.

"Not that I mind, or anything," Ethan stated, "but would guys mind explaining how you can be so calm about this?"

"It is a shock," Adam conceded, shaking his head, and shrugging his shoulders.

"That's an understatement," Rocky interrupted with a snort of laughter. Adam glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes.

"But it's by far not the strangest thing we've ever dealt with," Adam continued with a sigh. "I am a bit disturbed that it's not monster related, but still, we've gone through stranger. Come to think of it, I'd say, so have you."

Kira glared at the computer monitor. "You had to bring that up, didn't you?"

"You really do need to let that go," Adam laughed at her. "It was nearly ten years ago."

"Four months! And Shower!" she shouted at him, her hands on her hips, her volume only slightly lower than that of her powered ptera scream.

"Bathroom!" he argued back.

"Naked!" she hissed at him, narrowing her eyes. Adam stared at her for a few moments, before sighing. Trent watched both of them, before he glanced over his shoulder at Tommy. The boy wore an even more confused expression than he had before, as it was clear that the volume of the conversation had reached a point where he could hear everything perfectly. Not that it really made much sense to an outsider.

"You win," Adam conceded, and Kira smirked, crossing her arms over her chest in triumph. "But I think I made a valid point."

Trent, Ethan, and Connor all nodded, while Kira snorted a bit of laughter. "True," Trent stated, shuddering as he remembered his own odd experiences from their two week trip to Angel Grove, circa nineteen ninety five.

"You know," Rocky put in, "I'd really hate to be Connor right now."

"Kim's gonna find out tonight," Adam nodded, reading his best friend's line of thought, a slight smirk on his face, as Connor went pale. It was kind of the teenager's fault.

"Thanks guys," Connor growled, rolling his eyes. "So glad to know I can count on you for support," he muttered.

Rocky laughed out loud, and shook his head. "Ok, well, Adam, Aisha, Tanya, and I will be no help on the trust front."

"We know that now," Trent laughed cynically.

"Your best bet would have been Kim and Billy," Adam continued. "But there are others," he turned to Rocky. "You have their contact at all?"

"One," Rocky stated. "Give me a second, I'm going to bring this chat split screen," he stated. "I hope it's still the same number from two years ago and he answers." The teenagers nodded, and waited, watching as their screen split in half, showing a ringer on a black screen on one side, while Adam and Rocky stayed visible on the other half of their screen.

After a few tension filled moments, the video called was answered by a man, approximately the same age as Rocky and Adam. He had a medium skin tone, with black hair that was about an inch or so long on top, but buzzed short on the sides and back. He had a medium stubble beard and mustache over his face. He was broad shouldered and of a stockier build than both Rocky and Adam were, but just as muscular. He wore a black t-shirt with red sleeves, and he was frowning, confusion and surprise clear on his face. "Rocky? Adam? What's up guys?"

"Hey Jason," Rocky replied. "I hope we didn't bother you?"

"No man," Jason replied, realizing his screen was split in half. "Who are the kids?" his frown deepened, as Adam opened his mouth to reply. "On second thought," Jason interrupted him, shaking his head, as realization entered his eyes. If anyone could figure it out quickly, it was him. "I think I know."

"Yeah," Adam laughed slightly. "This is Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent," he stated. The teenagers each waved or smiled when Adam stated their names to indicate who was who, except for Connor who seemed unable to react. In fact, his mouth had fallen open when Jason appeared on the video chat, and he didn't appear capable of closing it.

"Um, hi," Kira stated with a nervous smile. Someone had to speak, and Connor wasn't going to do it. Jason inclined his head in greeting.

"Red, yellow, blue, and white," he stated, indicating the dress code of each of the teenagers he saw on the screen. "I take it this is not a social call," he continued, raising an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately," Rocky stated, "no. The kids need your help with something." He knew he wouldn't need to add that it was definitely ranger related.

"I don't really know how I could help," Jason replied, "You're the ones with the active powers. But I'll do my best. Connor's the leader, I'm assuming," he stated with a nod, immediately picking the boy clad in red. "What's up kid?"

Connor just stared at the computer screen, his expression still matching the shocked look he'd worn since Rocky had initiated the call.

"Dude," Ethan stated, elbowing him in the stomach lightly. "Speak!"

"Yeah," Connor stated, wincing at Ethan's jab and shaking his head, snapping himself out of it, "Powers aren't really going help with this one," he replied nervously. He had clearly realized exactly who he was speaking with.

"Ok," Jason told him. "So what's the issue?"

"Jason," Adam stated, "make sure you're sitting down."

"I am," Jason replied, his eyes showing that now he was nervous. If Adam was telling him to be seated, he didn't think he was going to like what they had to tell him.

Adam nodded. "Show him," he commanded the teenagers, and Kira walked away from the screen for a moment, Jason frowning as his eyes followed her. She went to the sofa and grabbed Tommy by his wrist.

"Hey," he protested, as she dragged him, reluctantly, forward. Ethan got up from the chair he was in and Kira shoved Tommy into the seat.

"Do you know him?" Kira asked the teenager, pointing at the screen. Tommy frowned, his eyes narrowing and his mouth falling open slightly. A moment later, his eyes shot open, as his brain pieced together what he was seeing. Before he could react, the man on the screen did.

"Holy fuck!" Jason shouted, his own mouth falling open. He blinked a few times. "Rocky?"

"Yeah man?"

"Tommy's not old enough to have a kid that age," he stated, rubbing his fingers of his right hand across his eyes. His voice sounded pained. He didn't want what he was seeing to be true.

"No man, he's not," Rocky admitted, with a bit of an amused laugh. The teenage boy shot the man he didn't recognize a glare.

"God damn it! How the hell did this happen? When did this happen? You have got to be fucking kidding me! It's always one thing or another with him, isn't it?" Jason shouted, followed by another stream of swears and some more muttering. He squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head towards the ceiling, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"Jason?" the boy spoke and Jason shuddered slightly at the familiarity of his voice, and dropping his hand to his side, looking back at the teenager. He recognized the expression on the boy's face. He'd seen it enough, and made similar ones. It was the face of a ranger desperately trying not to show how absolutely terrified he really was. Tommy had never been one to show his fear, and neither had Jason. Even now, the teenage boy was doing his best to save face.

Jason sighed, and took a few deep breaths. "I can see the problem," he addressed the other four, slightly older teenagers. "Yeah, Tommy. It's me," he said, turning his attention to the boy who was clearly trying not to freak out. He wasn't doing a whole lot better with that, but since he was technically the only adult in that conversation, he tried to take control.

"Jason?" Adam asked. "You got this for now?"

"I'll do what I can," Jason acknowledged, with a nod of his head.

"Alright guys," Rocky stated. "We'll leave you in Jason's hands. This one is going to take a while to fix, and you're not in any danger, so we'll be there tomorrow as planned. There's nothing we can do until then."

"Thanks Rocky," Trent stated, with a nod of understanding. As weird as it was, the older former rangers had a point. They weren't in danger; Reefside wasn't in danger; the world wasn't in danger. The only thing they stood to lose was their sanity. Rocky and Adam nodded and dropped their end of the conversation, leaving Jason still connected to the teenagers.

"Jason," Tommy stated once Rocky and Adam were gone. "What's going on? I don't understand. Why do you look like that? I just saw you at school this morning!" He was majorly freaking out. Jason was his age. They were in high school. Just like the others were in high school. Kimberly should not have been that woman in the photo, and Jason most certainly should not have possessed the facial hair of a man well past the age of puberty.

"Calm down Tommy," Jason told him, his voice calm, reassuring, but commanding. And Tommy actually listened, taking a few deep breaths and nodding, although there was a bit of hostility in Tommy's gaze. The four teenagers blinked, surprised at his response. This Tommy was not a version they recognized. They did not expect to see him take orders so calmly and easily. "I don't know exactly what's going on yet, but you're not in your own time. It's two thousand and four."

"They weren't lying?" Tommy asked, looking at the four teenagers who shook their heads. "I thought it might have been some type of trick of Rita's to put me back in her control. I don't have my morpher or my communicator! I'm cut off from everyone!"

"Rita's gone," Jason confirmed for him with a nod. "You're safe from her. They didn't lie to you. You can trust them. And, to be honest, I'm pretty sure your morpher and communicator are probably somewhere nearby."

"They are," Ethan confirmed for him. "Not that we know exactly where," he added, indicating the chaotic mess around Tommy's desk. "But they're here somewhere, I'm sure."

"How do you know?" Tommy asked Jason, ignoring Ethan.

"Because they're rangers," Jason replied kindly.

"Were rangers," Connor corrected him. "We lost our powers a few months ago," he stated, and Jason looked at him, sensing the sadness in the former red ranger's voice. It had been a very long time since he'd had powers, but he understood what the teenage was feeling all too well. He nodded understanding.

"Rangers?" Tommy asked, a bit of disbelief in his eyes, and the teens nodded to him.

"Your teammates in fact," Kira stated. Jason's eyes shot open at that one, but his reaction went unnoticed by the others. He hadn't expected to hear that Tommy had been back in uniform. He frowned for a moment, studying the five teenagers on his screen, realizing that Tommy was dressed in slightly baggy clothing, his t-shirt a jet black color. He sighed and shook his head slightly, realizing what that color on his former best friend must have meant.

"But if it's really two thousand and four," Tommy started. "I'm supposed to be his age," he frowned, pointing at Jason in the computer screen. "Does that mean that something happened to you all too?" He was frowning at them, a bit of distrust as well as concern in his expression.

"Not exactly," Trent laughed. "You're a bit older than we are."

"About ten years or so," Ethan added in, with a slight chuckle, and Tommy blinked. Jason muttered under his breath something that sounded like "Tommy took orders from a child."

"You're kidding," Tommy stated. "That is not a bit! That's more than half my life!"

"Nope not kidding," Kira laughed at him, and Tommy shook his head, trying to understand what they were telling him. He turned back to the computer monitor.

"You're sure I can trust them?" he asked the only individual so far that he could recognize. "I don't like having my morpher."

"As much as you'd trust me and the others," Jason replied with a nod. "You're in good hands. And if these guys say you can trust anyone else, they mean it. There are a lot of people in your life between who you are, and who you will be by the time you're my age," he laughed.

"You mean rangers?" Tommy asked, a slight smirk on his face. The longer he spoke with the man, the more assured he was that it wasn't a trick. That he really was looking at the grown up face of his teammate and leader.

"Yeah," Jason nodded.

"Those other two guys?" Tommy asked.

"They were your teammates, too, at one point," Jason explained.

"And yours?" Tommy asked and Jason immediately knew what Tommy was trying to figure out. Luckily, he could nod, and still be answering truthfully. The boy was freaked out enough. He didn't need to know at the current moment that Rocky would actually start off by taking Jason's place on the team, or that Adam would replace Zack, or that their powers would be destroyed before taking on new ones.

"Yeah," Jason replied, and the teenagers frowned, attempting to remember their ranger history lessons. "Listen," Jason told him. "You feeling a bit calmer now?" he could tell that the boy had been extremely agitated and nervous, despite his disposition. Despite not speaking to one another in a long time, minus the moon mission two years before, this was a version of Tommy that Jason could read like a book. This was his best friend when they were kids. Tommy nodded. "Good," Jason told him. "Go try and relax a little. Let me talk to Connor and the rest of his team," Jason stated, acknowledging Connor as the leader. He was actually impressed that Connor was the leader, on a team that contained Tommy Oliver.

"Ok," Tommy replied, shrugging. "But," he began, looking at the floor, slightly embarrassed by his emotions. "Jason?"

"Yeah bro?" Jason asked, using his nickname for Tommy. He hadn't spoken to him in years, but this boy didn't know that. He wouldn't treat him any differently; at least not until he was back to normal.

"Never mind," Tommy stated, shaking his head. He was more scared than he'd ever been before. More than anything, he wanted to ask Jason to come from wherever he was. He didn't even understand how their type of communication was possible, but he assumed if Billy could create their wrist communicators, maybe the genius blue ranger had also created this type of communication. Unfortunately, his pride got the better of him.

"You sure?" Jason asked him, and Tommy nodded reluctantly. Jason sighed, sensing the emotions the boy was feeling, watching the struggle in his face. "Actually," Jason paused, looking from the boy to Connor. "You guys have anything he could hit? It'll make him feel better," he stated, before letting his eyes notice that Tommy was glaring at him. "Don't give me that," he told the boy. "You know it's true."

"Absolutely," Trent laughed, ignoring Tommy's expression. "Come on, I'll show you. You can work out some of your frustration while we talk to Jason," Trent told the younger teen. Tommy sighed and nodded, getting up from the chair to follow the older teenager away from the computer screen.

As soon as he vacated the seat, Ethan slipped back into it. Connor and Kira fell into the other two seats, one on either side of him, and Jason nodded. "Ok, so this clearly isn't monster attack related?" Jason asked them. "You said you didn't think ranger powers were necessary to fix it, and Rocky and Adam aren't worried."

"No," Kira confirmed. "Ranger technology gone bad. We lost our powers in our final battle with our enemy."

"Got it," Jason stated with a nod, preventing her from having to go on. She and Ethan wore the same sad expression Connor's face had taken when they discussed not having their powers anymore. "Have you tried contacting Billy? You do know who Billy is?"

"Yeah," Ethan nodded. "How we know him is a long story," he laughed. "Which actually does involve a monster attack, come to think of it. But Billy's out of contact until next week. As is our own tech, Haley. Kimberly's out of town till tomorrow."

"Wait Kimberly? She and Tommy are living in the same town?" Jason cut him off, his eyes going into a deep frown. Hell hadn't frozen over as far as he knew. The teens exchanged a quick look, realizing that just like the others had been up until about four months before, Jason was not a part of Tommy's life, and therefore knew nothing.

"Same town, same house," Connor stated, with a shudder. Science teachers were not supposed to have girlfriends. Jason's mouth fell open slightly. "I take it Dr. O hasn't spoken to you in a while."

"Good guess," Jason stated, sarcasm in his voice, shutting his mouth and frowning. "How'd you figure? And Dr. O?"

"Science teacher as well as teammate," Trent stated, coming back into the view of the camera, he stood just behind Kira and leaned over her shoulder. Jason blinked as he processed that Tommy was a high school science teacher. "Seems he lost contact with just about everyone until a few months ago. Rocky punched him in the face when they reunited."

"Good," Jason said. "That means I won't have to," he added in. Lost contact, his ass. That implied accidental. Even when they'd seen each other two years ago, Tommy had practically avoided him. They'd shaken hands for show, but the comradery they'd had once had deteriorated. However, the boy didn't know that. As far as the kid knew, Jason was still his best friend. He was scared and distrusting. He was stuck in a strange place, in a time that would certainly be considered bizarre in his point of view. And Jason was not the type to abandon someone innocent; especially when it was clear he needed him. Like many of the others, he lived by a code. "So Rocky and Adam contacted me because you needed someone familiar to help calm him down?"

"Pretty much," Kira stated. "He doesn't trust easily at this point in his life, does he?" She asked Jason, concern for Tommy clear in her face. Jason sensed that there was a deep friendship between these teenagers and his former best friend, nearly the same as the relationships he still had with most of his old teammates, scattered thought they might have been.

"No," Jason said. "He's not even sixteen yet, if I remember correctly. He's not trying to kill you, so I'm going to say it's safe to assume as far as he's concerned, it's just after we broke Rita's spell on him. But that's what's contributing to his suspicion. He's worried about being turned evil again. He barely trusts himself, let alone anyone else. I'm surprised he's willing to trust me. Kim would have been your best bet."

"He said he was the green ranger," Ethan nodded. "Dr. O had a picture of you guys on his desk, but he's in a white uniform there."

"That's still a bit down the road for him," Jason confirmed with a nod. "So, time travel?" he asked the kids.

"No," Connor shook his head. "Regression. Otherwise, there'd be two of him here, and Dr. O would be figuring out how to handle this instead of us."

"Do I want to ask how you know there'd be two of him if time travel was involved?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Part of that long story that Ethan mentioned," Kira told him.

"Right," Jason told them. "So Rocky and Adam are going to be with you guys tomorrow?"

"Reunion of everyone from the long story," Trent explained, and Jason nodded. "Kim will be home in the middle of the night," he added.

"But that doesn't help now. I may have convinced him that you're not a danger, but he's still not going to trust you all that much. He doesn't know you. Does everyone include Billy? I know he's in the process of relocating from Aquitar. Got an email from him last month."

"Yes," Kira replied, nodding her head. "In about a week. Aisha, Tanya, Adam, and Rocky get here tomorrow."

"Alright, so there might not be any way to fix this until he gets here," Jason stated. "Billy's the only one I know that is smart enough to figure out exactly what went wrong with your technology, but I know someone who can try," he continued with a sigh and shook his head. "Where are you guys?"

"Reefside," Ethan told him.

"I'm in Blue Bay Harbor," Jason stated with a nod.

"That's not far," Connor remarked, with a smile.

"My thoughts exactly," Jason continued, realizing the teenager was on the same thought path. "I'm visiting here with a few other 'friends'," he stated, throwing air quotes around the last word. "Give us an hour or two, and we'll be there. I'm not sure how long his confidence in me will last, but maybe between us we can keep him calm till we can figure out what to do."

"Thanks Jason," Connor stated. "We owe you. Meet us at Haley's Cyberspace here in Reefside around Five thirty, six o'clock?" he asked, glancing at his watch.

"Ok," Jason replied with a nod. "See you soon," he added. The teens all muttered goodbye, before cutting the video chat.

"You think taking him out in public is a good thing?" Kira asked, knowing her friends would know who she was referring to.

"Dr. O's place is hard to find if you don't know where you're going," Connor argued. "The sooner Jason gets here the better," he added, sighing and shaking his head.

* * *

A lot of you have been begging since Chronology Conundrum for me to bring in some of Zordon's other Rangers. I can't promise a huge increase in the cast list, but Tommy's current age, does allow for some "new" old familiar faces.

Hope you enjoyed. Leave a review. If you're new to this, I reply if you sign in when you review, and I love hearing what you have to say.

Thanks for reading,

Fateless


	3. Chapter 3

I've spent an excessive amount of time tweaking every chapter. This story is definitely a lot slower in terms of plot and being written. But I can attribute that to the fact that we have entered the later part of the semester, and as such, my students have bigger assignments that take up much more of my time. At this point, I only have one more completed chapter. Not sure when I'll post chapter 4. It won't go up until I have 5 and 6 finished. Anyway, hope you all enjoy.

* * *

After hanging up the video call with Jason, Trent led their team the over to where he'd set Tommy up with the punching bag. The younger teenager was going to town on the bag. Connor smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Jason was right," he told his teammates, watching the teenager, and nodding towards the boy, one eyebrow raised. Tommy's style was definitely not as refined as they were familiar with, but there was no doubt it was effective, and explosive. Tommy basically looked like he was trying to kill the punching bag, his fists flying and striking the bag in rapid succession, interspaced with a kick here and there. His breathing was even, despite the effort he was putting in, as he glared at the bag.

"Well, based on ranger history," Ethan stated, "that's not all that surprising. You know who he was right?"

"Dude," Connor replied, "don't remind me." He ran his hands over his face, shuddering as another round of nerves hit him. "I'm having a hard enough time as it is trying to keep my cool that he's coming here," he added, slipping back into his stance, arms crossed again over his chest.

"You have no trouble talking to Rocky," Trent stated, mirroring Connor as the four of them watched Tommy, who seemed unaware he had an audience.

"Don't tell him, but there's a huge difference between being the first and being the second," Connor laughed. Ethan and Trent chuckled, while Kira rolled her eyes. "Hey Tommy, how you hanging in there?" Connor called out, dropping his arms and getting the boy's attention. Tommy stopped mid punch and looked up at the four, he gave them a slight smile, a little reluctantly.

"Honestly," he stated, "I'm feeling a bit better," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. He stepped away from the punching bag and faced them. "Guess Jason knows me better than I know myself," he added with a half-smile.

"That's good," Kira stated, returning the expression. She felt bad for the younger boy, assuming he must still be pretty scared by the situation. She knew she would have been, and so would the others, no matter how much they would have denied it, like Tommy seemed to be doing. "Jason's on his way. He said he's bringing some more friends to help."

"Friends?" Tommy asked, frowning, and trying to keep the excitement at the idea that Jason was coming out of his voice. Kira shrugged her shoulders, not catching on to all the boy's emotions.

"We're not sure who," she told him. "He didn't give names. We've never met him before."

"I'm on your team, and you've never met Jason?" Tommy asked. He frowned, unsure what that meant, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't like it.

"There's a lot of about your life we don't know," Trent told him. "You are a lot older than us," he reminded the boy, "well, normally I mean. God," he stated, looking at the boy. Normally Tommy was slightly taller than he was. Now he was the same height, or possibly a bit shorter. "How old are you anyway?"

"Almost sixteen," Tommy replied, confirming Jason's theory. Tommy stretched the truth slightly as he was definitely closer to fifteen than he was sixteen. But the teenagers intimidated him slightly, so he tried to make himself sound older without actually lying to them. "Why? How old are you?"

"The first rangers were young," Ethan laughed. "I'll be eighteen next month. The others are already eighteen. We just graduated high school," he explained.

"Jason says I can trust you," Tommy told them, sighing, and looking up. It was clear that he didn't completely trust them, but he was a lot calmer than he'd been before he'd spoken to Jason.

"You can," Kira confirmed, with a nod. "We get this is weird, but you can trust us."

"Why don't you start by telling me how I got here? You said it wasn't time travel," Tommy asked, and Kira glanced at her teammates over her shoulder. When they all shrugged, she sighed, realizing they were leaving it to her to try and help him understand.

"I'll do the best I can to explain," Kira stated, leading the group back over to the sofas. "You aren't a visitor from the past. Our Dr. Oliver," she stated, and Tommy frowned. She sighed. "I'll explain that after I finish how you got here, ok?"

"Yeah," Tommy stated, nodding and looking down at his hands. Kira smiled again realizing that this version of her friend was not as confident as he was normally was. In fact, he was a bit shy.

"Anyway, our version of you was showing us a new piece of technology he and our tech Haley were working on down here for a special reunion of some of our other friends. This is your basement, and our old command center. I guess that's what you'd call it. Anyway, the idea was for the machine to allow us to relive memories and project them on a screen for everyone to see," Kira continued.

"Kind of like watching your memories as home videos?" Tommy asked, thinking, as he narrowed his eyes at the device in the room. It had stopped sparking and smoking, but it was a bit ominous looking.

"Exactly," Kira stated with a grin and a nod.

"Dude," Ethan stated, "even a fifteen year old can get it," he directed at Connor who glared at him. Connor glared back at Ethan in return. Ethan burst out laughing.

"Ignore them," Kira told Tommy, rubbing her forehead and rolling her eyes at them. "So, while he, or rather you, were showing us the machine. Connor hit it with a soccer ball. You must have been thinking about when you had just barely started your ranger career. Next thing we know, you've regressed."

"Regressed?" Tommy frowned.

"Gotten younger," Trent put in. "Basically, you are our Dr. Oliver, but you've been reduced to a younger age. You're aren't fifteen, you just have the appearance and memories of yourself up until that point."

"You're trying to tell me that I'm not really fifteen, I just think I am?" Tommy stated, his voice dripping with disbelief.

"Pretty much," Kira laughed. "I'll admit, it does sound unbelievable."

"That's an understatement," Tommy muttered, looking down at his feet and shaking his head. "So I'm twenty eight?"

"Nearly," Kira told him, getting questioning looks from her other three former teammates. "Seriously," she looked at him, "you don't know his birthday is in October?" The three replied with embarrassed blushes, indicating that she was apparently the only one who knew. She sighed, and rolled her eyes at them. "It's only July now," she explained to Tommy, who nodded, exhaling as he took in the information.

"There's one positive to this situation," Ethan put in, while Tommy was trying to process what they told him. Ethan leaned back against the wall, propping himself with his legs crossed at the ankles, his arms over his chest.

"You see a positive in this?" Connor asked his friend, holding cupping his chin and cheek with his left hand. His right arm supported his left elbow, a slight amused smirk on his face.

"Yeah," Ethan laughed. "We won't be sending him back to the past, so we don't have to worry about wiping his memory of anything he finds out."

"You know," Kira laughed in response. "Ethan actually makes a valid point. That's actually a bit of a relief."

"How can you be so calm about this?" Tommy asked the four of them, clearly disturbed by the idea.

"A few friends reminded us that, after everything we've been through, this is basically nothing," Trent laughed.

"Basically?" Tommy questioned, clearly not believing anything could be stranger. "What have you been through?"

"Personality changes, getting trapped in comic books, evil rangers, time travel, just to name a few; we were regressed too," Connor ticked off on each of his fingers. Tommy's eyes went wider at each thing the tall teenager listed off.

"Yeah, but we remembered our actual ages at the time," Kira stated, as her face lit up with a thought. "Come to think of it, Dr. O mentioned he'd been regressed at least once before that happened. You ever go through that?" she asked Tommy, who shook his head.

"No," Trent stated, "he wouldn't have. Rocky and Aisha went through it as well, the first time."

"Right," Kira stated, nodding.

"Rocky? Aisha? Dr. O?" Tommy stated. "You promised you'd explain that," he added, given them all a pointed look.

"Well, you're Dr. Oliver, or Dr. O," Connor stated. "Not only were you our teammate, but you were our science teacher."

"I'm a what?" Tommy asked, giving them another look that basically suggested he figured they were insane. "Seriously?" the teenage boy added, "because looking around here, I would have guessed that I'm some combination of secret agent, wrestler, and a mixed martial arts fighter."

"Nope," Ethan laughed. "But you're right, it does kind of give that sort of vibe. You're a paleontologist actually." Kira, Trent, and Connor were attempting to hold in their laughter, and not doing too well.

"Yeah," Tommy snorted. "That sounds exciting," he added with a roll of his eyes. He sighed and looked around the room. His eyes scanned everything. His former teammates gave him a moment to process what he'd just learned. The boy looked a lot less scared than he did before, but still weary, and clearly full of questions. After a few moments, he looked back up at Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent. "So who are those other people you mentioned?"

"Rocky and Aisha are former rangers. You saw Rocky for a moment, he was the one in red. Aisha is his wife," Ethan stated, and Tommy nodded.

"And the other guy on the," he paused, trying to find a way to describe what had happened. Computers were for typing and playing Oregon Trail. If you were lucky, you got a few minutes on the internet. "Video call? By the way, you're going to need to explain how that's possible," Tommy asked.

"That's Adam," Trent added in. "He's engaged to Tanya. They're both former rangers as well. And they'll all be here tomorrow," he continued.

"And to explain video call," Kira stated, "we already told you, it's two thousand and four. More than a decade since you were really fifteen. There's a lot of technology that wasn't around then." Tommy gave them all looks that said he was overwhelmed, and wasn't sure what to believe about the technology thing. Not because he didn't trust them, but because he was astounded by the changes that were apparently possible in only a few short years. "You want more explanation than that, you talk to Ethan," she stated, jerking her thumb in the direction of her blue clad friend.

"Speaking of technology," Trent stated, "What do you guys say we head over to Cyberspace?" he asked the group. "Jason said it would take only about an hour or two. Let's make sure we're there well before that," he added in.

"Are you guys sure it's a good idea to take him out in public?" Kira asked again, looking at Tommy. "What if someone recognizes him?"

"We'll say he's his own nephew," Connor put in, shrugging his shoulders, and looking over the younger teenager himself. "It could work."

"With the same name?" Kira asked, hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised in a question, as if she couldn't really believe what they were suggesting they do. She kind of hoped maybe only a couple of them could go meet Jason at the cyber café and bring him back to Tommy's.

"His first name is weird, so he goes by his middle? It's a family name," Ethan suggested. "People around here will buy anything. Remember Cassidy and Devin bought the whole 'cleaning their shiny suits' thing." Connor and Trent both snorted a laugh, and even Tommy grinned slightly.

Kira rolled her eyes. "I don't know you guys," she stated, reluctantly. She kept glancing at the teenage version of their mentor and former teacher.

"It'll be fine," Connor retorted. "Besides, Billy and Haley won't be here for a week. Until then, he's probably stuck like this. We can't expect him to stay in the house and the lab for a week." Kira's look suggested that's exactly what she thought they should do with him.

"Billy's coming?" Tommy asked, catching onto Connor's words. He hadn't thought to chime in on the conversation before.

"Right, he knew Billy at this point," Connor stated, slapping himself in the forehead for forgetting Tommy's reaction earlier to hearing Billy's name. "Yeah dude. But he's out of contact for the moment." Tommy opened his mouth to ask why, but Connor shook his head. "You can ask the teammates you remember about that later."

"Speaking of contact," Trent stated, "Ethan, I know Haley probably won't check her messages, but," he began.

"I'm on it. I'll leave her a message explaining the current, um, situation," he stated, turning his phone and holding it up and open. "Hey Tommy," he stated, "say cheese!"

"What?" Tommy stated, looking at Ethan bewildered as the teenager snapped a photo with his phone. "What was that?"

"Technology we can explain later," Kira stated, glaring at Ethan for a moment for raising more questions, as Ethan sent the picture to Haley followed by a text message commanding her to listen to her voicemail. He then proceeded to walk to a more secluded area of the lab in order to actually leave a voicemail that explained, to the best of his ability, exactly what was happening.

"Ok," Tommy stated, frowning, "but how do you guys know Billy, but not Jason?"

"How about we let your older friends explain that one too, ok?" Trent asked him. "Trust us, it's a little complicated, and they were the ones who were there when it happened."

"You know that whole trust thing we've been working on," Tommy stated, raising an eyebrow, clearly not happy with Trent's answer. He folded his arms over his chest in defiance.

"Oh no," Kira told the boy, smirking at him. "You will not make us feel guilty. You can make Jason tell you when you see him in a few hours. Or Kimberly when she gets here tonight," she added in, seeing Tommy frown and go pale at the mention of the female ranger's name.

"Kimberly will be coming here?" Tommy asked, his eyes wide, and his tone was almost a squeak, while his cheeks flushed bright red. "As in to this house? Tonight?" he asked.

"You saw the picture," Connor told him. "Dude, I know you're a kid but," he stated.

"Connor," Kira hissed, elbowing her former teammate in the stomach. Connor winced as he double over, having not expected the physical reaction from the only female in the room. She then turned her attention back to Tommy. "You haven't asked her out yet, have you?" she asked the boy.

"Yet?" he asked, turning paler still, and this time Kira laughed slightly. Tommy was slightly adorable when it came to Kimberly. Now she understood why everyone else had seemed to be so anxious that Tommy and Kim get back together. They really had liked one another since the start.

"Tommy," she stated. "Here's the thing. You don't like to tell us a whole lot about your past; but Kim's told me quite a bit. You've both had crushes on each other since like day one."

"Kim has a crush on me?" Tommy asked, his eyes going wide, and Kira nodded.

"It'll all work out," Kira told him. "So yes, Kimberly lives here, with you."

"We're not married or anything right?" Tommy asked, fear about the answer in his eyes and in his voice. "I don't have kids that I've forgotten about?"

"Of your own?" Trent laughed. "No," he confirmed. "Rocky and Aisha have a girl and a boy whom you consider a niece and nephew, but you and Kim are just boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Well," Tommy stated, exhaling sharply. They could see a tiny bit of relief in the teenager's face. "That's good to know," he added with a nod, as Ethan rejoined them. He was still pale, and his eyes were still wider than they'd been before.

"What did you do to him while I was gone?" Ethan asked, frowning, studying the look the younger teen wore.

"Told him about Kim," Connor snorted. Ethan grinned and shook his head.

"Poor kid," he stated, patting Tommy on the shoulder, shaking his head. "Anyway, message for Haley left. You guys ready to go?" he asked his friends, shutting his cell phone and sliding it into his pocket.

"Just waiting on you," Connor told him, slinging an arm over Tommy's shoulder. "Come on Tommy, we'll take you someplace where all your technology questions can be answered."

"Or he'll just end up with more of them," Kira stated, rolling her eyes. She still didn't think going out in public was a great idea, but she'd been out voted. She reluctantly followed the four male members of her former ranger team up the stairs and out of the basement.

* * *

"Aisha?" Rocky called, unlocking the front door of his home and stepping inside. Adam followed him, as his friend set his keys down in a bowl perched on a shelf mounted by the door. Rocky frowned, looking around for the woman he'd called to, not finding her.

"Kitchen!" her voice responded. "Adam with you?" she asked.

"Hey Aisha," Adam called back as both men followed the sound of her voice into the kitchen.

"Good," Aisha said as they entered, finding Aisha sitting at the table feeding five month old Luke a jar of baby food in his high chair, while two and a half year old Katie sat in her booster seat picking up small pieces of pizza and shoveling them in her mouth. Luke wore only a bib, and was hitting his tray with both hands between bites. Tanya leaned back against the countertop, a plate in one hand, a slice of pizza raised to her mouth in the other, a glass of water rested just to the side and behind her. "Tanya's still here," Aisha replied, thought that was clearly evident to both men. "We figured no one would feel like cooking tonight so we just ordered in." The two men nodded understanding.

"Hi Daddy Ranger!" Katie giggled, chewing with her mouth open. Rocky laughed at her and kissed the top of her head.

"Hi monkey," he told her, before leaning over to kiss Aisha and falling into a chair beside his wife.

Adam had gone straight to Tanya's side and kissed her in greeting, before grabbing two plates and putting a slice of pizza on each one. He handed one plate to Rocky at the table, before leaning back on the counter beside his fiancé.

"You two are home late?" Tanya asked, raising her eyebrow at Adam. He grimaced in return and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand that wasn't supporting the plate. Tanya frowned at him, reading his guilty look and body language. "What's wrong?" she asked, exasperation and anxiety over it in her voice.

"We had an emergency call from the kids this afternoon," Rocky explained, doing his best to not burst out laughing as he recalled to mind the exact nature of the emergency. Since they really couldn't do anything about it, and no one was in serious danger, the entire thing was quite comical.

"What kind of emergency?" Aisha glared at him.

"Do you even need to ask that?" Adam replied, chuckling as well.

"But their powers are gone!" Tanya stressed. "Nothing is supposed to happen!"

"Rocky," Aisha whined. "This is supposed to be a quiet vacation!" Rocky shot her a look in response that told her she had to be kidding him. "I know it was wishful thinking, but couldn't I at least have had hope until we got there tomorrow?" she asked, pouting slightly.

"We were so close," Adam laughed, with a nod, pinching his fingers together to imitate his point. By then, all attempts at hiding their mirth had gone out the window. Both Adam and Rocky were grinning and snickering.

"I'm assuming since you're laughing, it's not a life or death matter?" Tanya asked him, raising an eyebrow. Adam shook his head, but then laughed slightly when thought of the actual situation. He was actually glad that for once there wasn't anything he could do. He could let Jason handle the problem with the teenagers, at least until tomorrow.

"Well, Connor might die," Rocky told her, "but that's going to be up to Kimberly. So the reunion could turn into a funeral."

"That bad, huh?" Aisha asked, making a face as she went back to feeding Luke who had begun to protest quite loudly when she'd paused. While there was still plenty of time for the boy's personality to develop, he was certainly taking after his father in terms of stomach capacity.

"Oh it's that bad," Rocky laughed, with a nod. He leaned over and tickled Katie's belly. "Your Uncle Tommy got himself into a bit of a pickle," he told her in a sing song voice. Katie giggled in response.

"Alright," Aisha stated, glaring at him playfully. "Out with it? What's going on?"

"Tommy, might have sort of regressed himself," Adam stated, bursting out into laughter.

"What?" Both girls screamed, and Katie and Luke jumped. Luke started to wail, and Katie's lip became a pout. Frantically, Aisha lifted up Luke, and began rocking him, shushing him as she did, bouncing him in her arms.

"It's alright, Katie," Rocky stated, pulling the toddler into his lap, hugging her to his chest. "Mommy and Aunt Tanya didn't mean to scare you," he told the girl at the same time as his wife comforted the baby. Despite the children's response, he and Adam were still grinning like mad men.

"How can you two find this funny?" Tanya asked her fiancé, her eyes indicating she's was clearly disturbed by the news. When Adam burst out laughing in response, she rolled her eyes and hit him lightly with the back of her hand, which only served to make the former black ranger laugh harder. Tanya fought the grin that was pushing its way to her face and shook her head "What on earth happened?" she asked, although it was possible to hear amusement in her voice.

"Apparently," Rocky began, as Adam was still laughing, "our fearless leader has had Haley assembling a machine that plays memories like home movies. It malfunctioned while he was showing it off to the kids, and well, instant teenage Tommy." Rocky had settled Katie onto his lap and pulled her plate closer so the toddler could resume her meal.

"Please tell me this a joke?" Aisha asked, placing Luke back in his high chair. She was beginning to understand why it was funny. The fool had done it to himself.

"Nope," Adam told her. "It gets better," he added in.

"Oh yeah," Rocky nodded agreement, laughter in his voice. The two girls frowned at them, questions in their eyes.

"The fool managed to regress his mind as well as his body," Adam continued.

"He really thinks he is a teenager?" Aisha asked, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice that time. Adam nodded and dissolved into a laughing fit again. It was hysterical when she stated it out loud.

"And just how old is he?" Tanya asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Maybe sixteen?" Rocky stated, although the inflection in his voice sounded like a question. He took a bite of his own slice of pizza as he shrugged. He truthfully wasn't sure how old Tommy was. All he knew was the boy hadn't recognized him.

"Not even," Adam confirmed. "He doesn't even know who we are," he continued.

"Wait? What?" Tanya stated, her mouth falling open. "Adam! You left the poor kids alone to deal with a version of Tommy who has no idea who anyone is? He's probably freaking out."

"He was," Rocky stated. "But we hooked them up with Jason," he added. "He can handle things, and Kim will be home tonight. Billy and Haley are the only ones with the ability to fix this, so I figured, for now, we just sit back and enjoy the show."

"You're cruel," Aisha told her husband, laughing still.

"So explain why Kim might kill Connor?" Tanya put in.

"Oh that," Adam stated, shaking his head, and grabbing a second slice of pizza. "Connor hit the machine with his soccer ball. That's apparently what caused the machine to malfunction."

"Oh yeah, he's a dead man," Aisha stated. "They've been back together, what? Four months now? And he's a child again." Aisha laughed, shaking her head. "I would not want to be in Connor's place right now."

"Not at all," Rocky agreed with a grin. "I say we take our time getting there tomorrow."

"Agreed," the other three repeated, falling into giggles and laughter.

* * *

Kira sat at one of the small tables at Cyberspace, her elbows perched on the table, her hands on her cheeks, and a straw between her lips as she downed a smoothie. Her eyes flickered to Trent, who had decided to help out behind the counter while he was there. Haley had, after all, left him in charge. At the moment, he was running back and forth, getting drink orders full filled for the mass of teenagers who were not outside due to the heat.

Realizing Trent would not be back anytime soon, she let her eyes fall on Connor and Ethan who sat on either side of their regressed science teacher, surfing the internet and completely overwhelming him. Tommy looked thoroughly confused, and slightly freaked out by the concept, but Connor and Ethan were unrelenting. They were grinning and laughing at each face that Tommy made. Kira wondered if the helplessness of Tommy in their modern society was giving the two older teenagers a superiority complex. It wasn't often that either of them bested their former teammate.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a new female voice invaded her thoughts. "Hi Kira," the girl called out, and Kira looked up to meet the eyes of a teenager her own age with long blond hair. She wore a pale pink tank top and a white skirt. She had two clips in the corners of her hair, pulling it out of her eyes. Behind her was a teenage boy with messy shoulder length brown hair. He wore a green and grey striped tank top and a pair of khaki shorts. The girl wore a pair of white sandals, while the boy wore a pair of khaki colored flip flops. Both teenagers fell into seats at the table, one on either side of Kira.

"Oh," Kira stated, with a quick smile. "Hi Cassidy, Devin," she stated, her eyes unconsciously darting back over to the teenagers at the computers. "What's up? Not working on your tan?" she joked with Cassidy.

"Way too hot out there," Cassidy replied, shaking her head back and forth. "Besides, I wouldn't want to get any wrinkles prematurely." Kira laughed and shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly.

"It sure is crowded in here," Devin stated, looking around at everyone. "It's like the entirely of Reefside is here," he added in, although it was probably just the entirety of Reefside's teenage population. Kira sighed and bent her head back to her smoothie, taking a long drink, her eyes falling on Tommy. She was more irritated than ever, that she'd let the boys convince her to bring him there.

"Who's the kid with Connor and Ethan," Cassidy asked, following her line of sight. "He looks familiar." Kira grimaced, in response as what she'd hoped to avoid actually happened. She knew he'd be recognizable. If Cassidy thought he looked familiar, there was no doubt most of Reefside would as well.

"Um," Kira began, trying to remember the cover story Connor and Ethan had developed on the way from Tommy's place to the cyber café. She was pretty sure it was laughable at best.

"Try really familiar," Devin added in, frowning as he stared at the teenage in the loose black t-shirt and khaki shorts. Kira followed his gaze, frowning as well. They really needed to get the boy a belt if he was going to continue to wear his own clothing. Devin turned back to Kira. "Is that?" he didn't need to finish his question. Kira knew by the shocked and confused expression that he wore, that he'd figure it out. She wasn't too worried about the two of them knowing, seeing how both knew that the five of them had been the dino thunder power rangers and they'd kept that a secret for the last few months.

"Yeah," Kira stated, with a reluctant nod, and a sigh in her voice. "It's Dr. Oliver," she added, dropping her volume low enough that they wouldn't be overheard. The place was packed, so she doubted anyone would hear their conversation among the din that was being created by all the other patrons.

"But how?" Cassidy stated, unable to draw her eyes off the three teenage boys. "That's not possible."

Kira sighed and shook her head. She didn't really want to explain it again. Besides, in the words of Dr. Oliver himself, "Anything is possible," even Egyptian mummies who came to like and fell in love with Cassidy.

"Reefside's not under attack again is it?" Devin asked her, alarm in both his voice and his eyes. Kira immediately shook her head no, attempting to calm him.

"Nothing like that," Kira stated. "Good thing too, cause our powers are still gone," she continued, when Devin's expression changed back to one of relief. "He did it to himself with some device he and Haley were building," she stated simply.

"Well, I'm going over to say hi," Cassidy stated, not waiting for protest from either Kira or Devin. Before Kira could open her mouth, Cassidy was gone.

"This is not going to go well," Kira groaned, laying her aching head down on the table, her arms dangling at her side. Devin frowned at her.

"Why not?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. Kira didn't reply verbally, but she did turn her head to glare at him. Her day was not going well. "I think we're missing something, aren't we?"

"You think," Kira muttered angrily, but just turned her head so that she was staring back at the table top, her forehead pressed against its hard surface. She groaned and whimpered slightly as she brought both her hands up and placed them on her head.

Both Kira and Devin heard Cassidy's sing song voice addressing the three at the computer. "Hey Connor, Ethan. Hey Dr. Oliver," Cassidy stressed her address to Tommy. "New look for you huh?"

Connor and Ethan had both jumped, not realizing Cassidy was behind them. When they turned to look at her, they both wore uneasy expressions. Connor ran his hand over the back of his neck nervously. "Um… Cassidy," he began, about to explain, and seriously concerned that Cassidy knew the truth. That was definitely not the plan.

"Who are you?" Tommy asked before Connor could continue. He wore a frown, as he watched the girl, and his eyes indicated that he was nervous.

"Um, duh!" Cassidy stated, clearly insulted. "It's me Cassidy? One of your students last year?" she stated, rolling her eyes slightly. The inflection in her voice indicated she was questioning his sanity.

"Uh…" the boy began, studying the teenage girl in front of him. He didn't talk to a lot of teenage girls. In fact, he typically got tongue tied around them. He blushed a deep shade of red, and cast his eyes down to the floor. "If you say so," he stated, looking at Connor and Ethan, for help. His eyes were in panic mode. They'd said no one would know who he was, and if someone did, they'd cover for him.

"Rude much?" Cassidy snapped at him, her eyes narrowing. "I mean, I thought we were friends. After all, I did help keep your secret," she scoffed at him.

"I um… I…" Tommy squeaked out, blushing bright red, and biting his lip. Cassidy completely freaked him out. He had no idea how to handle communicating with her.

"Cassidy," Ethan began, standing up and throwing his arm over his friend's shoulder. She was frowning, and practically glaring at Tommy. Ethan drew her away forcefully. "He doesn't know who you are, or who any of us are," he told her, when they'd reached the table where Kira and Devin sat. He pushed Cassidy into a chair. "You told them?" he asked Kira, who still hadn't looked up. She'd listened to the conversation, wincing each time Cassidy spoke.

"Devin figured it out," Kira growled, turning her head and glaring at him. "It's not my fault your plan didn't work."

"Why doesn't he know who we are?" Cassidy asked, not understanding exactly what had just occurred. She looked back over her shoulder at Connor and Tommy. The taller, older teenager had one hand on the boy's shoulder, as they sat in chairs facing one another. He was talking slowly and calmly, while the younger boy just nodded.

"He really believes he is fifteen years old," Kira told her, with an exasperated sigh. "I think you just scared the crap out of him," she added in, not exactly thrilled about things. She watched as Connor and Tommy turned back to the computers. A moment later there was a strange mechanical sound and the screen of their computer monitor went bright blue. "Ethan," she stated. "I don't think leaving him alone with Connor is the best idea in the world," she added to her former teammate, nodding toward them. Both teenagers were frantically pressing keys, and nothing about the blue screen was changing.

"Crap," Ethan stated, looking over his shoulder. "You got this?" he asked Kira, indicating Cassidy and Devin. Kira nodded and Ethan immediately sprinted back toward his friends and the blue screen of death that was on the computer. If he didn't fix it, Haley would kill him. Then there would be two murders. He kind of wanted to be around in order to enjoy Connor's.

"You guys," Kira stated, with a sigh, satisfied that Ethan could handle the computer fiasco. "Dr. O's a little lost and slightly helpless at the moment," Kira explained. "It took us a while to get him to trust us," she explained. "You might want to just back off a bit," she added, looking pointedly at Cassidy, who glared at her in return and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Who me?" she asked Kira, clearly offended in her voice. Kira smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Yes you," Devin told his girlfriend. Now that they had made things between them official, he'd become a bit more assertive in how he dealt with Cassidy. She turned her glare on him, but then sighed and shook her head.

"He did seem really freaked out by me," Cassidy laughed slightly. "He's fifteen?" she asked Kira who nodded, a reluctant half smile on her face.

"What do you need us to tell people?" Devin asked Kira with a grin.

"You'll help?" Kira asked them, slightly surprised, and both recent high school graduates nodded. Kira grinned in response. If anyone could spread a story around and make it believable, it was Cassidy and Devin. "Connor and Ethan decided to say he's his own nephew, going by Tommy which is his middle name."

"That could work," Cassidy stated, "if the story is told right. We'll see what we can do to convince people to stay away from him too," she added in, a slight mischievous grin on her face as she got an idea. Kira gave her a suspicious look, and went to open her mouth to say something in response.

"We'll take care of it," Devin simply assured her before she could speak. Cassidy apparently had an idea and she was going to run with it. Nothing he or Kira said would make a difference. He shrugged, and Kira just sighed, wondering if she was going to regret letting Cassidy get involved. Devin looked back over to the three. Ethan was desperately trying to fix the computer, while Connor looked like he was going to be sick, and Tommy looked freaked out. He went to stand up, and Cassidy and Kira followed. The three of them went to the door of Cyberspace and walked outside. Kira desperately needed some fresh air.

"Thanks you guys," Kira told the two of them, who both nodded.

"No problem," Cassidy told her. "What are friends for? We'll see you later."

"Good luck," Devin added in with a chuckle, and Kira knew he meant with the situation inside. Kira rolled her eyes, but laughed as well, as the two teenagers walked away, discussing their plans for spreading the cover story. Kira watched them go for a few moments, before she sat down on a nearby bench, crossing her legs at the ankles, and gripping the sides of the seat, and swinging her legs back and forth. There weren't a whole lot of people around on the sidewalk, as even though the sun was much lower in the sky, it was still crazy hot out. The parking lots nearby, however, were full. If she squinted just right, she could see Connor's red car that they'd taken from Tommy's in the distance.

Kira took a few moments to contemplate the newest development in their lives. Just that morning, she realized, she'd been wishing their powers had never been used up. That she could still shout Dino Thunder! Power Up! And morph into the yellow ranger, ready to destroy whatever obstacle was in their way. Tommy, Kimberly, and the others had assured her, Connor, Ethan, and Trent that just because the power was gone, it didn't mean they weren't rangers anymore. It didn't mean she was done saving the world, or dealing with chaos. She'd heard "Once a Ranger, Always a Ranger" so many times that she actually thought she would punch the next person who said it to her. But now she had to concede that they had been right. Odd occurrences were apparently going to continue to plague her life, especially if she stayed in Tommy's life. She had to admit that the morphing grid gods were definitely out to get him. She smiled slightly, realizing that as chaotic as the current situation was, she was actually happier at that moment, then she'd been in the last couple of months.

"Excuse me," a new voice interrupted Kira's thoughts. The teenage girl turned around to see an Asian woman, taller than she was, walking toward her. She wore a loose yellow short sleeved blouse and a pair of jean capris. Her shoes were cork wedge heeled sandals with navy straps, which added to her height. Her straight black hair reached halfway down her back, and she had short bangs over her eyes. She had a small grey purse draped messenger style across her chest. She wasn't alone. Her right hand clutched the tiny hand of a little boy who couldn't have been more than three or four years old. The boy wasn't fully Asian, but his features indicated that the woman holding his hand was most likely his mother. He stared down at his sneakers, kicking the concrete slightly, and refusing to look up. "My husband's looking for a parking space, but we're supposed to be meeting some people. Do you by any chance know a Connor, Ethan, Kira, or Trent?" she asked.

"You found one," Kira laughed, looking the woman over again, realization that she'd seen this woman before, in one of Tommy's ranger history videos, as well as the photos in the lab and in the kitchen of his home. "I'm Kira," she stated, and tugged at the strap of her own yellow tank top, indicating their own private signaling system. The woman grinned in response, her face changing from unsure to delight.

"Trini," she stated, happily, extending her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

* * *

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Hope you enjoyed. Reviews as always are appreciated, loved, and responded to if possible.

Fateless


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 6 got finished this evening, so I figured you all could have chapter 4. Updates may slow down further as we're winding down the semester at school which means I am up to my eyeballs in grading. However, following that is summer break, so updates will speed back up then. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

"Jason told us he was bringing friends," Kira replied with a smile, as she shook Trini's hand. Unlike Connor, she could clearly handle speaking to the first yellow ranger without prompting. She'd easily conversed with Aisha. Trini was a human being. Legendary in their legacy, but still a human being. She would admit that meeting the first of her color was a big honor. She wondered if that's how Ethan had felt when they'd met Billy. She never really thought to ask Trent if he'd felt anything about Tommy, but that was different. They'd seen him practically every day, and he was there teammate. Still, honor or not, she was human.

"Friends, huh?" Trini laughed, as the boy, attached at her side, moved to hide behind her slightly now that she was talking to someone he didn't know. His eyes were wide as if he were absolutely terrified. He didn't quite come up to her waist, and he gripped her right leg with his free hand, dragging her captive hand behind her as he went. "I'd say we're more than friends," Trini laughed. "Might have to have a talk with him about how he describes our relationship, or he's going to be sleeping on the couch for a very long time." She paused and looked the teenage girl over, before nodding. "So," she stated, "how long were you yellow?"

"About a year," Kira replied, continuing the cryptic-ness of their conversation, as they stood on the sidewalk outside the cyber café. There were weren't many people around, but neither wanted anyone to pick up on their conversation. "Ended just before graduation, about a month and a half ago." She really didn't want to discuss that topic.

"Sorry to hear it," Trini replied, sensing the sadness in the girl's tone. She gave Kira a half smile. "You'll find something soon to keep your mind busy. It doesn't hurt forever, and it does get easier."

"Thanks," Kira replied, with a nod. It was the same thing she'd heard from all the others, and as much as she wanted to believe them, it was easier said than done. "Who's this?" she asked, indicating the boy playing shy. She was both trying to change the topic and curious about the small child. Apparently, Rocky and Aisha weren't the only former rangers to have begun the process of procreation.

"This is Tyler," Trini replied, using her arm to pull him out from behind her. She released his hand as she walked him in front of her and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Ty," Trini stated, kneeling down so that her head was just slightly over his. "This is mommy and daddy's new friend Kira. Can you say hello?"

The little boy looked at Kira for a moment, studying her with his dark eyes. His face shape was Trini's, as was the jet black of his hair. But his eyes were lighter than his mother's and wider. After a moment or so, the boy looked back up at his mother, meeting her eyes and shaking his head vehemently no. Trini sighed and stood back up, as Kira chuckled slightly into her hand. "He's cute," she told the older former yellow ranger.

"Thanks," Trini replied, not entirely convinced what Kira said was true, rolling her eyes slightly at the small boy, who grabbed her hand and resumed his hiding place behind her leg. "He's painfully shy. It's something we're working on."

"How old is he?" Kira asked her.

"He's just a few months shy of four," Trini replied, turning over her shoulder and looking for someone. Kira assumed it was Jason. "I really thought they'd find a parking spot by now."

"They?" Kira asked, frowning.

"We did actually bring a friend," Trini laughed. "The three of us were on vacation in Blue Bay Harbor when Jason got your call."

Kira grimaced in response and gave the older former yellow ranger a hesitant and apologetic smile. "I'm sorry we interrupted your vacation. If we'd known, we would have handled it on our own."

Trini laughed at her and let a large smile break out over her face. "Don't be sorry. This is the most excitement we've had in a while. And a great excuse to see our old friends again. I'm glad you called."

"Well, Rocky called," Kira stated, and Trini nodded, with a slight chuckle. "You do know there are others like us in Blue Bay Harbor right?"

Trini's expression was one of surprise, as she shook her head. "No," she stated. "We just thought the mountains were a nice place for a getaway. Retired or active?"

"Mostly retired," Kira stated. "At least I think so," she added in. "They're slightly older than we are. They're the most recent team besides us," she added in and Kira nodded.

"Maybe you can introduce us one day," Trini stated. "I love meet new people," she added in with a slight smile. Kira nodded in reply.

"Here comes Jason," she replied, her eyes locking onto a figure over Trini's shoulder. The older woman turned around, watching as the man Kira had referred to walked towards them. He wore the same t-shirt Kira'd seen on the video chat, and a pair of black jean shorts, black sun glasses resting on his head. Behind the lighter skinned individual was a man with dark brown skin and black hair shaved close to his head. He had a small patch of hair on his chin and a thin mustache over his top lip. He wore a pair of pale blue jeans and a black short sleeve button down shirt. The two men were talking to each other as they closed in on Cyberspace. "If memory serves me, that's Zack right?"

"Correct," Trini replied with a smile and a laugh. "How'd you know?"

"Dr. O made us learn our history," Kira laughed in response, and Trini gave the girl a funny look. Almost as if she couldn't believe it. "Tommy, to you I guess," Kira added in and Trini giggled slightly with a nod, turning back towards the two men who hadn't noticed them yet.

"Jason! Zack!" she called out, using her free hand not clutched in the silent toddler's vice grip to wave them down. Jason looked up from his conversation to let his eyes settle on her. Within a moment, he grinned and waved back, leading Zack over to the two women.

"You found them," Jason stated as they stopped walking. He gave Kira a smile of greeting.

"Well," Trini stated, "one of them at least," she laughed. "What took so long?" she asked him, wrapping her free hand around his arm.

"Parking here is a nightmare. Every time we thought we had a spot, some teenager snatched it up," Jason grumbled and Zack laughed.

"Man," Zack stated, "you're just not aggressive enough." Jason gave him a mock glare, and Trini rolled her eyes. Kira grinned, enjoying the banter between the older former rangers. She was glad to see relationships similar to the ones she shared with her friends did have the ability to last for years.

"Hi," Kira stated. "I'm Kira," she added, extending her hand to each of the men. Jason shook it first and then Zack. Jason didn't state his name, knowing she would already know from the video chat. He figured that her greeting was directed more towards the only member of the original team that she apparently hadn't met in any capacity.

"I'm," Zack started to say.

"Zack," Kira finished for him with a nod. "I know," she laughed. "First black," she continued with a grin.

"How did she know that," Zack asked Trini, a freaked out frown on his face as he leaned in towards his friend to stage whisper. "No one is supposed to know that," he added in. "At least not unless we tell them."

"It appears Tommy decided that his students," Trini opted for the word students instead of rangers, due to the public nature of their conversation, "should be well versed in their history lessons." Her grin showed that she was more than a little amused by that fact.

"Come again?" Zack laughed slight and Jason shook his head. Kira grinned.

"Dr. O made us learn who everyone was who came before us. He made a bunch of videos explaining the legacy," Kira explained. "Some of us learned it better than others though," she continued, "so you'll probably need to introduce yourself to Connor." Zack's face said he wasn't too sure he liked the idea of being part of a video for future rangers to watch.

"Speaking of Connor," Jason stated, bending down and picking up the small boy so he no longer held his mother's hand captive. Tyler clung to Jason, burying his face in the man's neck, and Jason sighed in response, patting the boy's back. "Is everyone else inside?" he asked, gesturing to the entrance of Cyberspace behind them, and Kira nodded, and rolled her eyes, remembering exactly what it was that was inside waiting for them.

"Along with nearly ninety percent of Reefside's population. It's slammed," she stated. "Everyone is trying to avoid the heat."

"Might not be the best place to reunite with you know who," Jason stated, eyeing the building, and Kira nodded her agreement. "Now that the sun's lower," he continued, "outside might not be a bad idea."

"The park's not too far," Kira suggested. "I can show you the way, and call the guys to meet us," she offered.

"Sounds like a plan," Trini replied, as Jason shifted Tyler onto his hip. She slid her hand into Jason's as Kira pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and began to lead the way to the park. Zack fell into step beside her, his friends behind.

Kira flipped her phone open as she led the way across the street, and dialed Trent's number. His familiar voice answered the call after the third ring, saving her from the fear that she was either going to need to call one of the others or the cyber café itself.

"Where'd you go?" Trent immediately asked, without greeting. Kira rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Hello to you too," she laughed. "Stepped outside for a moment. I needed some air. The situation was beginning to give me a migraine."

"I know what you mean," Trent replied. "Connor took Tommy to play foosball while Ethan fixed the computer."

"Is it ok?" Kira asked him. "What'd they do to it anyway?"

"No idea," Trent laughed. "But it's not displaying the blue screen of death anymore. Ethan's sitting here with me watching Connor and Tommy."

"Watching them do what?" Kira frowned. The way Trent made it sound, either something entertaining or horrifying was happening.

"Well," Trent stated, drawing out the word. "Some girls joined their foosball game, and Connor decided to flirt with them."

"Oh boy," Kira groaned, running her free hand over her face.

"Yep," Trent laughed. "They started flirting back, with Connor and Tommy," he snickered, stressing the word 'and'.

"That cannot have gone well," Kira stated, realizing she was getting funny looks from Zack beside her. Jason and Trini were talking to one another, so she wasn't sure if they had overheard her conversation.

"Still going on," Trent laughed again. "For a green," he stated, "he's spending in amazing amount of time flushed red," he added in, and Kira burst out laughing.

"Poor kid," she stated, shaking her head. "Anyway, it took you forever to answer. I was afraid I'd have to call Connor."

"We're still pretty busy," Trent replied to her, and Kira made a face that suggested she wasn't actually happy to hear that. "And I was distracted watching the train wreck that is Tommy," he laughed. "Seriously," he added in, "he's worse than Ethan."

"I resent that," Kira heard Ethan's voice in the background, and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Can you get a way for a bit? After all, you weren't even supposed to be working this evening," Kira told him.

"Yeah," Trent stated, "Kyla can handle things," he added in. "Why?"

"They're here," Kira stated. Behind her, she could hear the three adults talking to each other. She was actually surprised by the lack of sound made by Tyler.

"They?" Trent questioned her.

"Jason did say he was bringing friends," Kira reminded him, and pictured Trent nodding when there was no answer. "Ran into them outside Cyberspace. Figured a packed house was probably not best suited for reuniting them with Dr. O."

"Can you even call him that right now?" Trent laughed.

"Good point," Kira grimaced, with a slight smirk. "Anyway, it's a bit cooler out now than it was earlier. I'm taking them to the park. Figure the benches by the pond might be secluded enough?"

"Absolutely," Trent replied. "They're normally vacant enough," he stated and then paused for a moment. "I take it you want me to get Connor, Ethan, and Tommy and meet you there?"

"Please and thank you," Kira laughed, and she heard Trent chuckle in response.

"Alright," he told her. "But it's not going to be easy. I think Connor's having too much fun, but I suppose Tommy will be happy to escape."

"See you soon," Kira laughed in response.

"Bye," Trent told her, before she hung up the phone. They were halfway through the walk to the park by that point. She slipped her phone back into her pocket, and looked up at Zack beside her.

"The guys are going to meet us at the park, provided Trent can get Connor and Tommy away from the group of teenage girls surrounding them," Kira stated, getting chuckles and giggles from the adults around her as they imagined the scene she'd hinted at. "So, what do you guys know of the situation?"

"Jason said Tommy managed to regress himself physically and mentally through the use of a machine he was working on," Zack told her, with a shrug, his hands in his pockets.

"Yep," Kira replied. She gave one nod. "That's pretty much it," she laughed. "Connor is technically the one who caused it," she explained. "He hit the device with his soccer ball. Next thing we know," she stated. "Poof." She took her hands and brought them closer together, indicating shrinking.

Jason, Trini, and Zack laughed at her explanation. "Ok," Trini stated, "so I can start looking the device over," she explained, "but I don't know how much I'll be able to do. I've helped Billy on some projects in the past, but he's the brains behind them. I guess the main thing we can help with is keeping him calm and helping him adjust to the situation."

Kira nodded in response. "He's pretty jumpy," she explained. "And really wary. He definitely doesn't trust us very much," she explained, her voice displaying her worry.

"He doesn't know you," Jason told her. "That's all." He clearly read the expression on her face. She was just as bothered by the fact that her teammate didn't trust her as he would have been.

"So," Zack asked, as they reached the area of the park that Kira had sought out. The teenager sat down on a bench, Trini falling into the seat beside her. Jason set Tyler down, hoping the boy would expend some energy, but the toddler kept his eyes locked on Kira and hid behind his father's leg. Jason just sighed in response. Zack leaned back against the trunk of a tree that shaded the bench. "What was he trying to do with this device anyway?"

"To be honest," Kira stated. "My best guess is it had something to do with nostalgia. We were set to have a reunion of sorts, and Dr. O decided," she began.

"Dr. O?" Zack laughed. "That's the second time you've called him that."

"He was their science teacher," Jason told him, "right?" he checked with Kira, and the girl nodded.

"Ok, you're really going to have to explain that one," Zack laughed, trying to picture what Tommy as a science teacher would look like. "And how you became one of us in the first place," he added in. Kira smirked in response.

"We will," she stated. "We haven't explained it to him yet either, and I'm willing to bet he'll ask soon, if he hasn't asked the guys already. I'd rather only explain it once."

"Go on about the machine Kira," Trini encouraged her, and Kira nodded, leaning forward in her seat, her hands tucked underneath her legs.

"Oh yeah. Anyway," she continued, "Dr. O decided he wanted to be able to relive his old memories with his friends. So he had Haley, our tech, work on this machine. I guess the point was to be able to visualize the memories, rather than just verbalize them. Clearly," she laughed, "they became a bit too realistic."

"So, when the machine activated," Trini stated, frowning, and crossing her arms over her chest as she pieced together the explanation in her mind, "Tommy was thinking about his earliest days."

"Well," Jason stated, "not his earliest. Things would be a hell of a lot worse if he was." He shook his head and shuddered slightly at the thought. Tommy the evil green ranger had not been fun to face with powers, and from what he understood, no one in the group had active powers at the moment. Granted, neither did Tommy, but Jason had no doubt he would still have been able to cause trouble.

"Good point," Zack stated. "He's not evil then?"

"Nope," Kira stated. "At least not as far as we could tell."

"Would you know though?" Trini asked her, concern written on her face, "I mean, if he was trying to hide it?"

"Probably," Kira laughed. "We've had enough contact with evil individuals throughout our 'career' to know one," she stated, throwing air quotes around the word career. Jason, Trini, and Zack gave her uneasy looks. They clearly knew from firsthand experience what evil rangers were like. "Even got to experience being one for myself."

"Not a great feeling is it?" Jason asked her with a knowing, empathetic smile. Kira frowned for a moment at him.

"You?" she asked, raising her eyebrow, trying to remember that from her history lessons with Tommy. Her mind was coming up empty.

"Yeah," he stated. "With Kim," he added in, and Kira realized the moment he was indicating. She shuddered slightly. Tommy had explained that Mesogog couldn't even control Kim while she was under the influence of Maligore, until he'd fused her with dinosaur DNA. Looking at Jason, physically, she was pretty sure he must have been one scary evil ranger. "Not the highest point of my life," he finished, and Trini reached for his hand, giving his fingers a squeeze. Kira sighed and nodded, casting her gaze down to her feet.

"Thanks for coming," she stated simply. "I know you don't normally have to deal with stuff like this anymore," she added in. She truly was thankful for their help.

"Once a ranger," Jason began, and Kira looked back up at him smiling.

"Always a ranger," she finished with him and laughed. "Glad to hear it's a common saying and practice," she added in.

"Someone taught you well," Trini laughed. "Wasn't Tommy though right?" she joked.

"Quite a few someones in fact," Kira replied with a nod. "Kim, Billy, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Tanya, and Tommy on occasion," she counted off on her finger tips.

"Besides that saying," Zack stated. "This gave us an excuse to see everyone again. It's been far too long," he added in. "I can't wait to see the look on Kimmy's face when she finds out we're here."

"Before or after she kills Connor?" Jason asked his friend, eyebrow raised. Zack grinned and shrugged his shoulders while Kira and Trini both laughed.

"Speaking of Connor," Kira stated, looking up and nodding into the distance towards four teenage boys who were headed in their direction. Connor and Trent led the group, while Ethan walked slightly behind them. Behind the three recent high school grads, trailed the youngest of the group, who appeared to be slowing his pace with every step. Kira raised her eyebrow, trying to figure out why the boy who seemed so eager earlier when they told him Jason was coming, now seemed extremely reluctant to see his old friends. She stood up and walked forward to meet the four, the new arrivals to Reefside falling in behind her slightly. "Took you long enough," she told Connor, as she reached her friends. She spun on her toes, and fell in beside him, stepping back out of habit so that Connor formed a point of a triangle created by him, her, and Ethan. Trent stood in his customary place beside Ethan, but Tommy hung back, kicking at the ground with his shoe, several yards away.

"Someone got a case of cold feet," Connor replied, giving her a grin in response. He sighed and shook his head, looking up in front of him and meeting Jason's eyes before allowing his gaze to fall on the small boy still clinging to him silently. "Although," he stated, a bit of nervousness coming to his eyes. "I can understand being a bit nervous," he told Jason with a grin, extending his hand.

"I put my pants on one leg at a time," Jason told him, shaking his head and extending his free hand to grip Connor's, both former red rangers exchanging a strong handshake. "Just like you," he added in, and Connor laughed, shaking his head.

"When you put on pants," Trini joked, stepping up and smiling. "I'm Trini," she told the teenagers, as they each took in the primary color of her attire, realizing that she was the first yellow ranger.

"My wife, always with the jokes," Jason laughed, slinging his free arm over Trini's shoulder. He bent towards her and kissed her lips lightly. Connor's grin faltered and he frowned, looking from Trini to Jason and back again. "What's wrong? Something on face?" Jason asked, worried. Connor didn't answer. His gaze however became more frantic, as he looked back and forth between the two. Confused, Jason dropped his arm from Trini's shoulder, giving both Trini and Zack concerned looks. If this was earth's most recent red ranger, he was slightly concerned for the safety of humanity.

"Connor," Ethan asked, looking at his friend with concern. "You alright?" he added in, frowning at his friend. Connor tore his gaze off of Jason and Trini and looked directly at Kira, his face turning slight green. Kira raised her eyebrow at him.

"Dude, first Rocky and Aisha! Now this!" Connor stated, giving Kira the deer caught in the headlights look, as he paled. He tore his eyes off of Kira and looked at Trent, gulping. Kira frowned at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Connor didn't always make sense, but at that moment he was making less sense than ever.

"Connor," Ethan demanded, "What are you even talking about?"

"Seriously!" Connor burst out. "You don't see it?" he asked the only former blue ranger in the group. He looked at Jason and Trini again, his eyes falling on the matching wedding bands they wore, before turning his attention back to Kira, who was still giving him a puzzled look. "You don't get it?" he asked her, still pale.

"Get what?" Kira asked, and Connor shook his head.

"Never mind," he muttered, casting his gaze onto Trent, who looked as confused as Kira did. He shuddered slightly, and looked down at the ground.

"What's with him?" Jason put into the conversation, his eyes full of concern for the teen.

"I don't know," Ethan replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "What do you have in common with Rocky and Aisha?" he asked, although it was more of a rhetorical question. He frowned as he studied the two rangers in front of him, Kira beside him mirrored his expression before she suddenly got it, and her face contorted into disgust.

"Ewww! No way," she screamed, glaring at Connor. "How could you even think that!" she yelled at him, stalking towards him, her fist raised in the air. She threw her arm out and punched him as hard as she could in the shoulder. "You are the biggest idiot in the world," she growled, as Connor stepped back sheepishly rubbing his arm. Kira made a sickened face again and shuddered, curling her hands into fists at her sides, all of her muscles straight and tense as she tried to get the image Connor had planted out of her mind.

"What?" Ethan, Jason, Trini, and Zack all stated at the same time. Realization then dawned on Ethan, and his eyes went wide. "Oh," he stated, drawing out each letter of the word. A thin smirk worked his way onto his face and his eyes danced in amusement. "Seriously dude?" he laughed at his former leader.

"Connor," Trent stated, his voice dropping an octave, as he clearly understood, looking at Connor with ice in his eyes. "Think about it even for one more moment, and powers or not, I will find a way to skin you with my drago sword," he threatened, pulling Kira towards him in a possessive and defensive manner. The adults looked the boy, slightly confused, although Jason was beginning to fully understand what Kira meant about experience with evil rangers.

As Trent had spoken, Connor had shifted his gaze onto his former teammate, and let his face fall into a slightly serious, slightly apologetic smile. He rubbed the back of his neck, casting his eyes to the ground. "You can't deny it's a pretty weird coincidence," he stated, although there was a bit of amusement and reluctance in his voice.

"Dude," Ethan laughed. "I'm pretty sure Trent will not be your biggest worry if you continue on this line of thought," he pointed out, indicating Kira who was shooting her former leader glares that he was pretty sure might actually have the power to kill. Out of all of them, they were pretty sure that without powers, Kira was the most dangerous. Connor followed Ethan's prompting and paled, gulping when his eyes landed on the only girl on his team. He gave her an apologetic smile, but Kira's only response was to deepen her glare. Ethan was pretty sure she was plotting his murder, if Kim didn't get to him first.

The adults had watched the entire exchange, slightly confused looks giving way to understanding. At which Trini and Jason had broken out into grins, Trini gripping Jason's free hand and wrapping her other hand around his arm, leaning against him. Zack just burst out laughing.

"He's got a point though," Zack cracked up, leaning forward, gripping his stomach, as he spoke through his laughter. "There is a tendency," he added in to the teenagers. "There's these two," he stated, indicating his friends, "and like Connor said, Rocky and Aisha. And Jason told me about Ashley and Andros," he continued, tears streaming down his face, as he spoke each word thought fits of laughter.

"Zack," Trini laughed, hitting the man with the back of her hand lightly. "You're not helping. Not all reds end up with yellows," she added in, when she saw the look the teenagers gave him in response to the mention of a third red/yellow ranger couple. Ethan looked mystified, Connor had gone pale, Kira looked sick, and Trent looked like he was about kill Connor. It didn't take a genius to realize that Kira and Trent were an item; especially, not with the way Trent still held Kira possessively. "After all, he was red," she stated, nodding toward the boy who was far enough away that he couldn't hear them, though he was watching everyone with a suspicious look in his eyes, his expression almost a glare, as if he was angry. Everyone followed her gaze, letting it settle on the teenager. Trini sighed and let go of Jason's hand as her husband set Tyler on the ground. She walking toward Tommy, even as Zack muttered 'doesn't count; he was green first' in response.

She stopped a few feet in front of the boy, who had immediately cast his gaze to the ground when he realized that the group had shifted their attention off introductions and onto him. Even though he didn't see her, she knew that he knew he was no longer standing alone. The boy had his left hand hanging limply down toward the ground. He held his forearm with his other hand, his right arm across his stomach. His head was down, and his eyes cast at his feet. He rubbed up and down his arm, and Trini watched as his fingers lingered on his wrist, searching for something that wasn't there. His physical features were all extremely familiar, her memory sharp as always, but it was his clothing that disconcerted her. The loose black t-shirt he wore felt extremely out of place to her. She was sure he wasn't comfortable in it either, especially if the teenagers were right that he believed himself to be the green ranger, which she was sure they were. She let a slight smile drift across her face as she studied him. She sensed his nerves and anxiety. "Hey Tommy," she spoke gently, and noticed him flinch slightly. "You recognize me don't you?" she asked him.

Tommy looked up at her, and gulped, nodding. He cast his gaze over her shoulder at the other six individuals. He recognized two of them way more than the new four. Trini watched as he tried to bury the fear in his face. He'd pretty much succeeded. Apparently, it was one thing to talk to Jason via a computer, and something completely different to be standing in front of a person that in his mind, should have been a teenager too. The look in his eyes confirmed his nod, as Trini saw recognition. "You look almost the same," he told her, his voice containing a slight bit of nerves. He told the truth. Although her face did look slightly older, of the three of them, Trini was the least changed. She was a bit taller, and dressed more maturely, but there was not a doubt in his mind that the woman was his yellow ranger. That she was the girl he went to school with; was slightly afraid of heights; was the voice of reason and calm on their team.

"Thanks for the compliment," she laughed gently. "You doing ok?" He opened his mouth to respond, but Trini laughed again and shook her head. "Don't give me the answer you'd tell those two," she stated, jerking her thumb back over her shoulder. She knew he'd know she meant Jason and Zack.

"So," he stated, with a bit of a reluctant grin and a blush. She knew him well. "You want the honest answer?"

"Always," she replied, smiling back at him.

"Trini, I'm terrified," he stated. "I still can't understand how this is possible. Everywhere I look, something is different. I'm not in Angel Grove; I'm clearly not a ranger; my friends aren't my age; I'm surrounded by people who claim to know me; And if I do try and accept it, I get another shock," he stated, "Like that!" he pointed to the child clinging to Jason's hand, his eyes going wide, even though he kept the tone of his voice even. Trini saw the panic in his eyes. "He looks like you," he stated, his eyes darting back to Trini. "You're a mom?" he asked her, and Trini smiled with a nod. "And he's the dad?" Tommy asked again, pointing at Jason, his face paling. He was fifteen. He knew what it took to make a baby, and he knew that Trini and Jason were just friends. The little boy was way too much for him to handle.

Trini chucked slightly, following Tommy's finger. "Things are a bit different from what you're used to," she agreed with him.

"A bit!" Tommy stated, his eyes going wide. "Trini," he said, shaking his head. "Me going from green to white is a bit different. This is not a bit. This is huge!"

"Come on," she laughed at him, throwing her arm over his shoulder, and steering him back towards everyone else. "It'll be alright," she told him.

"So I've been told," Tommy grumbled, rolling his eyes, but he allowed her to drag him over to his old friends, not lifting his eyes off the floor. She stopped him in front of Jason and Zack, her hands on his shoulders, sort of how she'd coaxed Tyler out from behind her earlier.

"Hey Bro," Jason laughed slightly, and Zack looked the teenager over.

"Man," he stated, a grin on his face. "You'd expect someone to age forward, not backwards after not seeing them in almost a decade," he laughed, and Tommy's eyes flashed up and open, his mouth falling open.

"We haven't seen each other decade?" Tommy squeaked out, his eyes darting from Jason to Zack, fear, disappointment, and hurt reflected in them.

"Zack," Jason scolded, a slight chuckle in his voice, while Trini glared at her friend. "I don't think you're helping again," he told him, and shook his head.

"What do you mean a decade?" Tommy asked again, frowning. He looked at the four teenagers he'd spent the day with. "You knew this?" he accused, his eyes falling specifically on Connor.

Connor sighed and ran his hand over his face, casting helpless looks at Trent, Ethan, and Kira, all who shrugged in response. Tommy was now glaring at Connor.

"Tommy," Jason interrupted before the boy's temper could get a hold of him. "It's not their fault," he stated.

"Well, then whose is it?" Tommy turned on him, his eyes flashing in anger slightly. "How could I have not seen my best friends in ten years?"

"Chill bro," Jason commanded him, letting go of Tyler's hand. The child's eyes went wide in fear, looking between his father and the strange teenager in front of him. Now that he had no physical contact with either of his parents, he felt overwhelmed, and as a result, he crouched as low to the ground as he could, watching his parents silently. "I just saw you two years ago," Jason informed him. "And you're not going to like it, but it's your own fault."

"Mine?" Tommy asked, disbelief in his voice. There was no way he would have abandoned his friends.

"Yes," Jason told him, his voice flat, but not cruel. He wouldn't lie to the teenager. He knew Tommy could take it. "And if you hadn't turned yourself back into a kid, we probably wouldn't even be here now," Jason informed him simply. Tommy glared at him, anger welling up inside him as he curled his hands into fists.

"Jason," Trini stated, "was that necessary?" her voice was soft as she looked between her husband and the teenager she remembered as one of her best friends. They might not have spoken in years, but the kid she saw before her didn't know that. In fact, she was pretty sure, that as far as the boy was concerned, they may have spoken that very day.

"Yes," Jason replied to her, not taking his eyes off Tommy. "He deserves to know the truth," he added in, and Tommy deepened his glare at Jason. "I won't lie to him."

"It can't be the truth," he stated. "I'd never," he began.

"You'd never intentionally loose contact with your friends?" Jason asked him. "Is that what you were going to say?" Tommy's glare deepened further, as Jason held his gaze. The teenager didn't respond. Jason took a deep breath, and exhaled sharply. "Things happened. Some of them you couldn't control," Jason explained. "Life takes twists you don't expect and things occur that can't be predicted. Unfortunately, you can't always like the outcome and you can't undo them. But we're here now," Jason stated, "when you need us the most."

"I don't need you," Tommy muttered, angrily. He wasn't sure who he was angry at: himself, or Jason. He wanted it to be a lie, but if that was, so was everything else they were telling him, which meant he was in danger, and in the last few hours he'd discovered that he definitely did not have his morpher, so he was practically helpless if they all turned out to be monsters or an illusion created by Rita. "I can handle this perfectly fine on my own," he spat. Jason frowned, blinking for a moment, looking over at Zack and Trini who both shrugged. All three were apparently trying to figure out where Tommy's hostility stemmed from. The four real teenagers were slightly taken aback by the defensive nature of their regressed teammate. They gave each of the adult former rangers questioning looks which Zack and Trini returned with shrugs.

Jason ran his hand over his face, watching the glaring teenager, and sighing. "Tommy," he suddenly asked. "Remember Titanus?" Connor, Ethan, Trent, and Kira frowned at Jason's sudden question. It seemed so entirely off topic. They were stunned, trying to determine the purpose. Trini and Zack each raised an eyebrow, clearly understanding why Jason had asked the seemingly random question.

"Who?" the teenager replied, clear irritation and confusion on his face.

"Yeah," Jason stated, sarcastically rolling his eyes. "That's what I thought," he added, looking over at Zack and Trini. "This is going to be harder than I thought," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. The dino thunder team all gave him questioning looks, but Jason just shook his head. Apparently, Tommy had thought himself so far back, he'd forgotten his lessons in "gung ho". He might not have been the evil green ranger, but he was definitely not yet a team player. Not that he didn't want to be; just that in his mind, he and Jason hadn't yet learned how to work together. "Trini?" he stated, giving his wife a look that screamed 'help'.

Trini sighed and shook her head. "Tommy," she stated calmly. "I know it's not what you wanted to hear, and it's a really long story, but the point Jason was making is we still all care about one another enough that we came here to help, no matter how long it has been, or how much things have changed. You do believe that, don't you?" Tommy sighed, and dropped his hostile gaze away from Jason, nodding to Trini's words.

"Man," Zack added in. "I didn't mean to make you upset," he added. "I'm just really happy to see you," he laughed.

"You are?" Tommy asked, frowning. He was pretty sure that if roles were reversed he wouldn't have been happy to see the people who abandoned him.

"Of course," Zack laughed. "Time may have passed, but you're definitely still the Tommy I remember."

"That's cause he reversed himself," both Jason and Connor muttered at the same time. Kira and Trini both glared at them.

"Well, you're not the Zack that I do," Tommy replied, a smirk on his face. "You're both old," he added, indicating Jason and Zack with his eyes.

"Watch it bro," Jason snickered in response, his arms crossed over his chest. "I can, and will, still kick your," he paused what he wanted to say, his eyes falling on the silent but observant toddler, and sighed. "Butt," he finished, slightly irritated that he had to be responsible and watch his language.

"Oh really?" Tommy stated, shifting his stance, clearly challenging Jason, who shook his head in response. Tommy was definitely exactly how he remembered. The boy always felt better after a tense situation if he could hit something.

"No way," Jason laughed. "I am not fighting a fifteen year old," he added in.

"Chicken?" Tommy mocked him. His smirk had a slightly dark undertone to it. Zack's eyes went wide as he fought extremely hard not to laugh. Ethan, Trent, and Kira raised their eyebrows, surprised at Tommy's sudden playfulness, and Connor snickered.

"What did you just call me?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Connor gulped, not wanting to be in Tommy's position at that moment, but the former black who thought he was the current green ranger did not back down. Instead, realizing he'd struck the nerve he wanted to, his grin enlarged, as Jason stalked towards him.

"Oh no!" Trini shouted, getting in between the two of them, and placing both her palms against Jason's chest. "Not here, not now," she stated, looking back and forth between the teenager and her husband, her eyes then shifting to her son, who was silently watching the entire exchange, his eyes wide. "Jason Scott! You are not setting a good example."

"He called me a chicken!" Jason protested.

"So?" Trini asked him, getting eliciting laughter from the four dino thunder teenagers.

"He also technically called you old, seeing as we're all the same age," Zack offered and Jason nodded. Trini frowned at both of them for a moment before whirling around to face Tommy, who immediately shifted out of fighting stance, and jumped backwards.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, more than stated, before diving so that he was slightly obscured by Connor. His voice had squeaked in the process.

"Dude! I am not a human shield," Connor groaned, looking up at Trini, holding his hands out in front of him. He'd known four other yellow rangers during his time as a red ranger, and one thing he'd learned, was that if they were female, they were definitely dangerous. He doubted, based on his own knowledge, and Tommy's current reaction, that Trini was any different. "I swear! I do not share the same views as him."

Trini just smiled sweetly in response, and shook her head. "It's alright Connor. He's just confused by everything," she explained. "Why don't we all go back to his place and we can talk everything through calmly and rationally?" Connor gulped and nodded, dropping his hands to his sides.

"Sounds like a plan," Kira stated, looking between Tommy and Trini, and then at Zack and Jason who both wore concerned expressions. "How long are you planning to stay in Reefside?" she asked Jason, as she began to lead the way out of the park. Jason scooped Tyler off the ground, as he and Trent moved to follow her. Trini, Zack, and Ethan fell into step behind them, falling into easy conversation. Connor looked over his shoulder at Tommy and studied the boy for a moment, before sighing.

"She's going to kill you later isn't she?" he asked the younger teenager, whose eyes were still wide as if he'd been about to be crushed to death by a zord.

"Yep," he replied simply, shaking his head and casting his gaze at the ground. Connor chuckled slightly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yellows," he laughed, and began to steer the younger teen out of the park after the rest of the group.

* * *

For those who have been begging, you now have Jason, Trini, and Zack. They'll all stick around long enough to be reunited with Kim, Billy, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya. I make no promises of bringing in anyone else, but we'll have to wait and see how the story plays out. If the plot takes a turn where it makes sense to bring them in, I will. But I won't bring them in just for the sake of bringing them in.

Thanks for reading, and as always reviews are greatly appreciated,

Fateless


	5. Chapter 5

So, first of all, for those who feared I may have abandoned this, I apologize. I have not. Work has been kicking my butt. Plus back at the end of Feb I started taking Kung Fu classes, so that's been taking my free time. But anyway, this did take a lot longer to post than anticipated, for a few reasons.

1 - I don't like to post a chapter until I have at least written the next two. Chapter 6 is done, and 7 is underway, but I felt you'd all waited long enough.  
2 - This chapter went through several major rewrites and additions.  
3 - The chapter is twice as long as a majority of ones in Chronology Conundrum. In fact it's 19 pages compared to my normal 9-10.  
4 - Warning: Major cliff hanger and I didn't want to leave you sitting with that for a month.

Can't promise Chapter 6 for a while, but I can promise you'll probably have it before the end of May. I have 27 more papers to grade and they have to be finished by tonight. So anyway, I hope everyone has been well, and I hope you've been looking forward to this as much as me. Happy reading.

* * *

Connor had let the entire group into Tommy's home when they got back to his house not to long after leaving the park using the key he'd been given in case of emergencies. He was pretty sure the current situation constituted an emergency. "Sorry about taking that turn too fast," he stated as he opened the door, stepped inside, and moved away to let everyone in behind him.

"No problem," Jason replied, stepping inside Tommy's home and looking around. He carried Tyler on his hip. The silent boy looked up from his father's neck, glancing around, a frown on his face as he copied his father's investigation. "Although, if we'd lost you, I'm not sure how we would have found this place."

"He likes his privacy," Kira laughed, looking over her shoulder at the teenage boy who'd been particularly quiet. He shot her a glare, and Kira just laughed harder, shaking her head. "Was he always this quiet?"

"No," Tommy refuted, while Trini, Jason, and Zack all replied "Yes." Tommy shifted his glare onto them, but all three of his former teammates ignored him. He could deny it all he wanted, but they knew that at this point in his life, Tommy wasn't a man of many words unless he needed to be. Tommy didn't like that Kira was insinuating that he'd changed a lot over time. There was too much different so far. He just wanted something to be the same as he remembered.

"I'll start dinner," Trent suggested, as he brought up the rear of the group into the house. "I'm guessing everyone's hungry?"

"Starved," Zack replied. "I'll help. What'd you have in mind?" The entire group had proceeded into the living room. Jason had immediately sat down and placed Tyler on the floor. The child crawled up onto the couch and pressed himself into his father's side. Jason watched him, slight resignation and irritation on his face at the same time. Trini had assured him that Ty's behavior was a phase, but Jason just hoped he outgrew it soon, because as much as he loved him, the shy thing around other people was growing old.

"Due to some, uh… minor complications last time we all got together, Rocky requested an actual barbeque," Trent laughed, "so we've got plenty of burgers and hotdogs on hand."

"Minor complications?" Jason replied, with a slight frown on his face. He had a gut feeling it was ranger related. And judging by the fact that the teenagers had considered a regressed Tommy Oliver as minor, he was even more sure he shouldn't press the issue. The teenagers just grimaced as they recalled several of those events and nodded.

"Sounds good to me," Zack stated. "Lead the way," he added, and Trent nodded, leaning down over the back of the sofa where Kira was seated and giving her a quick kiss, before he led the first earth black ranger into the kitchen. Kira turned her attention to the rest of the room. Connor and Ethan had also grabbed seats, while Tommy and Trini were still standing. Trini was walking around, examining the room. Every so often, she picked up an object, inspecting it. Kira was pretty sure she was trying to learn as much about the non-regressed Tommy as she could from his belongings. There was something about her that made Kira realize that if anyone could accomplish that, it was her. Tommy on the other hand was standing in the corner, leaning against the wall, his gaze cast at his feet.

"Tommy," Trini stated, drawing the boy out of his thoughts. "You really have to stop sulking and acting like you're embarrassed by who you are," she told him with a gentle smile. He nodded slightly, but didn't look up from the floor. "I'm not going to hurt you," she laughed, turning her attention back to what she was doing. She stopped at an end table and picked up a framed picture. It showed Tommy, although much older than she'd ever seen him, and Kimberly. It had to be a recent photograph, as Kim looked much the same as she remembered, and they'd just seen each other last summer.

"I didn't mean to call you old," he stated, looking up and meeting her eyes. Trini sighed and set the picture back down. Tommy's eyes landed on it, going wide again, while Jason snickered slightly. "I'm just…" He paused and trailed off, his eyes darting around at various photographs and objects. "I just don't know how to handle this."

"So don't," Jason told him, and Tommy turned his gaze to him. "Stop trying to handle it and let us do it."

"But," Tommy began and Jason shook his head, leaning forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees. Tyler shifted beside him so that he was actually standing on the couch, leaning on his father's back.

"Am I your leader or not?" Jason asked him, giving the teenager a pointed look. Tommy opened his mouth to protest that he should be helping figure out what to do and that he should be handling it on his own again, but Jason shook his head again and deepened his look. Tommy sighed, nodding.

"You are," the teenager stated, slightly reluctantly, again casting his gaze to his feet.

"Good," Jason told him with a quick nod. "As your leader, I'm ordering you to try and relax. The earth's not in danger at the moment. No one is trying to conquer it. Your ranger powers aren't needed. Yeah, this is weird," he continued, "but it's not dire. When we were the same age, I was your leader. Now, I'm an adult, and you're a teenager. Either way, I say let us handle this. There's really not all that much to handle anyway. You're probably stuck at fifteen years old until Billy gets here, or your new team's tech Haley arrives. So just relax and be yourself."

"What about them?" Tommy stated, bringing his gaze back up to lock eyes with Jason. Everything the former red ranger said was true, but that didn't mean Tommy was willing to give up his argument that easily. He maintained eye contact with Jason and pointed over at the three dino thunder teenagers in the room. "I can't just relax and leave them leaderless."

Ethan snorted, Kira burst out laughing, and Connor's face broke into a giant grin. "Aww," Kira giggled. "That's cute," she added.

"Yeah," Ethan smirked. "He thinks he's leader."

"I'm not?" Tommy asked, his voice confused and nervous, as he transferred his now confused gaze from Jason, who was trying not to laugh, to the three teenagers. "I mean, from what you said, I'm clearly the oldest and most experienced." Jason snorted a laugh and Trini hit him with the back of her hand, although she was smirking as well.

"Sorry dude," Connor laughed. "This team holds with the red tradition," he stated. "You're our teammate and mentor," he added with a nod, "but I'm leader, and I agree with Jason's order. Just try and relax," he chuckled at the look Tommy wore. The boy was beyond confused.

"I'm your mentor?" Tommy frowned, his body collapsing to the floor as he digested the information Connor had just imparted to him, his legs crossed at the knees. He could do without being leader. He liked just being one of the team. He wasn't always thrilled with taking orders, especially if he didn't agree with Jason's strategy. So finding out he wasn't the new team's leader was a bit of a relief. However, he didn't like the idea of being a mentor for other rangers. That was the job of someone wise. Someone who knew a lot about world and the universe. Someone who could mediate between the different personalities and abilities that the various individuals brought to the ranger teams. And that someone, as far as he was concerned, was definitely not him. Further, if he was the mentor, there were definitely more implications than just the simple fact that he might have actually grown up. "Where's Zordon?"

"Bro," Jason stated, "that's not really a story you need to hear right now," he told the teenager. "It's not conducive to relaxing," he added, leaning back on the sofa again and shifting Tyler from his side to his lap. "Tyler," he asked the boy. "Could you please give daddy a break?" he asked the boy who looked at him and shook his head, murmuring something. Jason frowned at him. "What?" Tyler just shook his head again, before blushing and hiding his face. "I swear," Jason stated, shaking his head. "This kid is not mine," he added.

"Oh stop," Trini laughed, "of course he's yours." She walked over to him and sat down beside him, taking the small child and placing him on her lap. "Ty's just being quiet and observant, aren't you?" she asked the boy. Tyler looked at her for a moment and then shook his head no before snuggling up against his mother. Trini sighed and laughed slightly.

"So, this definitely doesn't look like the place from the video chat," Jason told Connor, rolling his eyes at his son's behavior and trying to take his mind off it. The younger former red ranger shook his head. "It almost looks as though a normal person lives here."

"I am normal," Tommy stated with a mock glare at Jason. Jason just grinned in response.

"If you say so," Jason replied, mocking in his voice. "But remember, normal people don't get themselves turned into teenagers." Tommy struggled to come up with a retort, and just settled on glaring at him, his elbows propped on his knees, his chin resting in his upturned hands.

"The lab's downstairs," Kira explained, laughing slightly at the short exchange between her regressed mentor and his former best friend. At that point, Zack walked back into the room, and took the last seat on the sofa beside Trini.

"Thought you were helping cook?" Trini asked him, as the man took Tyler from her. The teenagers expected the boy to attempt to scramble back to one of his parents. The nearly four year old surprised them by turning and wrapping one arm over Zack's shoulder, leaning his head against his chest, a content smile on his small features.

"Got kicked out," Zack replied with a grin. "Something about making sure there was still enough food left over tomorrow."

"Another bottomless pit, huh?" Kira joked. "Connor's not allowed to help either," she added, and Connor laughed. "Well, that'll make three of them when Rocky gets here tomorrow."

"While Trent cooks," Jason stated after laughing at the expense of his friend and red successor. He leaned back and placed his arm on the sofa behind his wife. Free of small child, Trini leaned in against him, and Connor looked away, not allowing his gaze to fall on Kira. He still couldn't help thinking about the tradition that seemed to plague the older rangers. Jason's eyes were locked on a photograph on the mantle with fourteen people in it. He recognized four of them as the four real teenage dino thunder rangers. Six more had even been his teammates at some point, and although it had been different lengths of time since he'd seen or spoken to them, he knew them all. The eleventh was just as familiar, although she hadn't been his teammate, which only left three in the picture that he didn't know. Two small children and a red headed woman. It wasn't hard to figure out that the red head must have been the dino thunder team's tech, Haley. And while he'd never met the two children, he knew of their existence and clearly who they were. "Why don't you tell us the long story of how you know everyone else? I hate to admit it, but I'm curious about those minor complications Trent mentioned."

Kira exhaled sharply, a tiny smile on her face, as she groaned slightly. "Do we have to relive that?"

"Yes," Zack laughed at her. "Curious minds and all that," he stated. Tommy nodded agreement.

"I want to know too," he stated, with a small smile. "You know, since I obviously can't remember."

"Fine," Connor replied, with a laugh. "I'll start because Kira will leave stuff out," he told them. Kira grabbed a pillow and tossed it at him, hard. Connor caught it and settled it into his lap. "So, our main enemy was known as Mesogog, a creepy dinosaur mutant thing, bent on bringing the world back into the time when dinos ruled the earth. And as you clearly know, enemy of power rangers wants to get rid of power rangers," he added.

"Sounds about right," Zack laughed, shaking his head. Trini and Jason grinned.

Connor nodded. "And he decided that the best way to get rid of us, was to destroy him," Connor stated, sitting forward on his chair, his elbows on his knees. He pointed at Tommy.

"Why me?" Tommy asked, frowning.

"Like you said, oldest and most experienced. Just because you're not our leader, doesn't mean you were any less valuable to the team. Without you, we might have fallen apart on multiple occasions," Ethan told him.

"Yeah," Kira stated, with a nod and a gentle smile. "You made us rangers." Tommy opened his mouth to ask another question, but Kira shook her head. "One story at a time," she laughed. Tommy smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Anyway," Connor laughed, shaking his head. "He decided to do this by sending a monster back in time."

"Seriously," Jason laughed. "You weren't joking about understanding time travel?" His eyebrows were raised in question.

"Unfortunately not," Ethan told him with a laugh of his own. "Anyway, the monster made a mistake, and instead of going back in time on his own, he brought the five of us with him. To the year nineteen ninety five."

"Oh boy," Trini laughed, shaking her head. "Let me guess. He displaced your location as well."

"Of course," Kira smirked. "I wouldn't bet money that you couldn't guess where we ended up."

"A little town called Angel Grove," Jason nodded, rolling his eyes. "Where were we in ninety five?" he questioned, turning his attention to his wife. Trini hit him.

"Peace conference dear," she told him with a mock glare. "You remember that was the year you finally got up the courage to ask me out, the first time."

"Right," Jason laughed, kissing her lightly on the head. Zack stuck his finger in his mouth and made mock gagging noises, which made everyone in the room laugh. Even Tyler let out a slight giggle. It was the first sound the teenagers heard him make. "If I recall, that didn't work out so well."

"Nope," Trini laughed, reaching up with her outer hand and patting Jason lightly on the cheek, and mocking smirk on her face.

"You weren't in Angel Grove in ninety five?" Tommy asked his two friends, whose faces both immediately captured the essence of "oh shit" when they realized that Tommy was no longer relaxed. He'd realized if they weren't in Angel Grove, they weren't his teammates any longer. Trini sighed and shook her head, trying to give the poor teenager a reassuring smile. Tommy appeared to be trying to do math in his head to figure out how long before… well he wasn't exactly sure what would happen.

"Jason, Trini, and I left on a youth peace conference to Switzerland," Zack told him calmly.

"But you said," Tommy began, looking accusatory at Jason, who shook his head.

"I didn't lie to you," Jason told him. "Just because we left, doesn't mean you stopped being a ranger," he told him. "In fact, you took over as leader in my place," he added in. "And those two men you met via the video chat earlier were my teammates too, just later on." Tommy didn't look entirely convinced, but he did sigh and nod, looking back at the teenagers on the love seat and the single chair, urging them to continue. He didn't want to think about the loss of his friends.

"How long was it before you ran into the rangers?" Trini asked Kira.

"Well, Dr. Oliver and I were separated from the other three. Landing out in the desert. But Connor, Ethan, and Trent ended up in the woods closer to the city, so they ended up meeting people sooner," Kira stated, looking over at her friends.

"Yep," Connor stated. "We found the youth center, and I'd say within a few minutes of being there, we noticed four of them."

"Didn't know who they were though," Ethan stated. "We didn't pay a whole lot of attention during ranger history class," he laughed, and Tommy knew the laugh was directed at him. He glared at the former blue ranger.

"Let me guess, they were sparring?" Jason laughed, looking at Tommy, who blushed.

"Adam and Rocky were," Connor stated with a nod. "Billy and Aisha were watching. Once we met up with Kira and Dr. O, we met Kim too."

"Shit, how'd that go?" Zack stated. "They would have recognized Tommy. He hasn't changed that much," he added.

"There's something we sort of forgot to mention about our powers," Kira laughed. "We each had a genetic power associated with the source of our powers. Dr. O's was invisibility," she stated, getting looks from Zack, Trini, Jason, and Tommy on the floor.

"I can become invisible?" the teenage actually seemed really intrigued and excited by the idea. Kira laughed at his response and nodded. Jason, Trini, and Zack looked mystified, confused, and slightly concerned, all at the same time.

"Could," Ethan corrected the boy. "Those powers disappeared with the rest of them. You're normal now."

"Normal?" Connor snorted. "Seriously, dude, don't lie to him." Ethan and Kira laughed, while Tommy just shook his head.

"Man," Zack laughed. "Should have had their powers back then. Do you know what I could have done with the power of invisibility?"

"Yes," Jason, Trini, and Tommy all stated at once.

"Cause way more trouble than it would have been worth," Trini told him, glaring at the grinning former black ranger. She didn't even want to think about the ideas that were running through his mind at that moment.

"Anyway, Dr. O went invisible," Ethan laughed, "and we still had no idea why. Billy and Rocky saw him, but no one believed Rocky, and Billy didn't really believe his own eyes. It wasn't until Dr. O's younger self showed up that we figured out where we were. Kira got sick over it," he laughed.

"Haha," Kira stated, smacking him with a nearby sofa pillow.

"I don't remember meeting you," Tommy stated, a questioning look on his face.

"Well, you wouldn't," Ethan reminded him. "You were seventeen then, not fifteen," he added in. "Plus, we locked away everyone's memories." Tommy's frown deepened. "Try not to dwell on it," Ethan told him. "It'll only give you a headache."

"So, why did the monster go back to ninety five?" Jason asked. "Tommy was clearly a ranger then, or did Mesogog not know his history?"

"No," Connor stated, shaking his head. "He knew. Time travel was only part of a bigger plot."

"Time travel?" Trent's voice reached them as he walked into the house through the sliding back door carrying a plate of burgers and hot dogs. "You telling that story?"

"Connor agreed to it," Kira told him, while glaring at her former leader. "They wanted know how the reunion came about, and I lost all say in the matter."

"Makes sense," Trent nodded, heading into the kitchen. "Why don't we all fix plates before you continue," he suggested. "We should eat before it gets cold."

"Good plan," Zack stated, handing Tyler back to his mother. He stood up and immediately followed Trent. Everyone laughed or nodded agreement, as they followed to make themselves plates. A few minutes later, they found themselves seated back in the living room. This time Jason was on the floor, sitting beside Tyler who had a plate with a cut up hot dog and potato chips on it. Trini, Zack, and Ethan sat on the sofa. Connor had resumed his seat in Tommy's chair, and Kira and Trent were on the love seat. Tommy had sat back down on the floor, in between Connor and Jason's locations.

"Alright," Jason said, once the last of them was situated. "Where were we?"

"Why he went back to ninety five," Trini reminded him, and the teenagers nodded.

"Like Connor said, the time travel was only part of the scheme. We'll get to the other part soon," Ethan stated. "Clearly, we couldn't keep our identities secret for long. Our powers had traveled with us, and we ended up using them a few times. Billy and Kim found out who we were first."

"Did Kim faint when she saw Tommy?" Jason laughed between bites of his hamburger.

"How'd you know?" Connor smirked, noticing that Tommy was frowning again, and his face was slightly green.

"Just a good guess," Jason laughed, looking at his former best friend. Tommy shot him a worried look, and Jason, Zack, and Trini just laughed harder.

"So anyway," Ethan continued, "once identities were all cleared up, we began working with Zordon and Alpha to devise a way to get ourselves home, and to erase their memories of the future."

"That makes sense," Trini nodded, and her two friends gave her strange looks. "Meeting these guys would have given our old teammates insight to the future, which they could have then altered," Trini explained to Jason and Zack who were still looking at her like they didn't understand. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Go on," she encouraged the teenagers.

"Well, while Billy, Ethan, and Dr. O were doing that," Kira stated, "the rest of decided to have a bit of fun. Connor, Trent, and I went to a school dance with Tommy, Kim, Adam, Aisha, and Rocky."

"You went to a nineties school dance?" Jason laughed. "In the middle of a monster attack?"

"The monster hadn't shown himself too much, and we were getting bored," Kira defended. "In hind sight, it probably wasn't the best idea, but we didn't know that our monster was working with Rita's brother Rito."

"Rita has a brother?" Tommy shouted, a horrified look in his eyes.

"And a husband," Jason put in, and Tommy's face suggested he was mystified. "And a father, come to think of it."

"That's sick," Tommy muttered, getting nods of agreement from Jason, Trini, and Zack.

"Family tree aside, we definitely couldn't have predicted that they'd kidnap Kimberly," Trent continued.

"Of course you could have predicted they'd kidnap Kimberly. They always kidnap Kimberly!" Jason told them, laughing. He wasn't too worried, as the photograph showed she was alive and safe.

"What!" Tommy stated. He however, was having a much more difficult time understanding the present time line of events. He wasn't as worried that she wasn't ok, more that Jason was indicating that Kimberly was often in danger.

"You'll save her every time, bro," Jason assured him, leaning forward and patting the regressed individual on the shoulder, a grin on his face. Tommy's look suggested he didn't know if he should be reassured or more worried by that fact. He just took a large bite of his burger, and then held his head in his hands, shaking it slightly.

"We know that now," Connor laughed gently. "So anyway, we went to save her. Well, most of us. We left Billy, Ethan, and Adam behind due to teleporting issues. And that's when the monster deployed the second phase of his plan. Dr. O destroyed him in the process, but he managed to regress all of us, except Kimberly, she was just the bait, by nine years."

"But that would have made you all," Trini began.

"About eight years old," Trent stated, with a nod. "It was not fun."

"Well, we were eight," Kira added in. "Dr. O was a teenager again."

"So, let me get this straight, the actual ninety five Tommy was eight, and the Tommy from two thousand and four was eighteen?" Zack asked. The four teenagers nodded. "That's just wrong."

"Tell us about it," Connor stated, blushing.

"He's embarrassed because he thought girls had cooties, and said so out loud," Ethan laughed.

"Keep laughing blue boy," Connor stated. "You'll get yours one day," he added in, glaring at his friend. Ethan just smirked in response.

"So you've been through this kind of situation before then?" Jason asked, gesturing towards Tommy. The teenagers all shook their heads no in response.

"Physically," Kira explained, "yes," she added in. "But mentally, we retained our real ages."

"So the monster had gone back in time with the purpose of regressing Tommy into a child, and destroying him before he could grow up to be a ranger?" Trini asked, and the teenagers nodded. "Why didn't he just regress Tommy here?"

"His power was only good for up to ten years. Regressing him here would have resulted in something similar to this," Ethan remembered, indicating Tommy again, who once again glared at the fact that he was being used as a prop. "A teenager with martial arts skills at worst; at best, he may have had access to his ranger powers."

"And that would not make him easy to defeat," Zack nodded. "So how'd you get back to the correct time?"

"Billy and Ethan managed to restore our proper ages using the monster's device, and then they and Dr. O created a device to store away everyone's memories and send us home," Kira stated.

"Aww," Connor teased her. "You left out the best part of the story," he laughed, and Kira lunged toward him with the intent of strangling him. Trent caught her around the middle and pulled her back down onto the love seat. Connor resumed his seat, having attempted to scramble out of Kira's reach the moment she reacted.

"Connor has a death wish," Trent explained, when he saw the confused looks Jason, Zack, Trini, and Tommy were giving them. "Kira," he stated, releasing his hold on his girlfriend, "there's no use hiding now." Kira groaned, and pulled her knees to her chest, hiding her face in them and shaking her head.

Ethan smirked. "As far as we know," he began. "Zedd and Rita never knew we were there. So, life kind of went on as normal while we were stuck in the past. Well, normal as far as ranger standards go. Zedd and Rita sent a mind changing monster to earth, and well, Adam and Kira spent an entire day stuck in each other's bodies."

"Oh goodness," Trini exclaimed, trying not to laugh, as she covered her face with her hands. "You poor thing," she told Kira through giggles. Zack, Jason, and even Tommy had dissolved into laughter. Tommy may not have known exactly who Adam was, but there was no denying that it was a boy's name. Kira glared at each of them, and even hit Trent since he was closest to her, and her own team had joined in the laughter. Granted, she did wear a reluctant grin on her face.

"It was traumatic," she muttered slightly, still clutching her knees to her chest, her face turning slightly red at the adult former rangers' hysterics.

"Like Billy and Kim did," Jason stated, wiping tears away from his eyes, and giving a confused looking Tyler a reassuring smile. Connor, Ethan, and Trent nodded. "Not even they realized it?" he asked the teenagers.

"Kira and Adam spent the day apart, so none of us even saw them together. We didn't figure it out until the day was over," Trent explained, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend in a hug.

"Can we stop making me relive that horror," she muttered into his shoulder, getting laughs from everyone else in response.

"All in all," Connor stated, "we spent two weeks in the past. The device they created didn't erase memories, just locked them away until the time line was corrected. So when we got back to this year," he paused for a moment.

"Everyone remembered," Trini stated. "And they all came looking for Tommy?"

"They must have been pissed," Jason stated, and Tommy looked worried. He was still not coming to grips with the fact that he'd lost contact with his friends.

"They were," Kira stated with a nod, "but they got over it pretty quickly. Relationships mended and all that," she added, sparing the teenager anymore pain. "And that's why we know Billy, and not Jason," Kira stated, looking at her regressed mentor, who nodded slowly, a grim expression on his face.

"Apparently some relationships were a bit more than mended?" Trini asked, nodding toward the photograph on the mantle. Kimberly was tucked into the crook of Tommy's arm. "I saw her last summer and she didn't even mention his name. And why is she in a cast?"

"Oh, um…," Ethan laughed. "This all happened about four months ago. Our ranger powers were still active, which means Mesogog was still out to get us."

"He kidnapped Kim," Connor stated, watching everyone's eyes go wide before adding in as quickly as possible, "we got her back. But then he turned Dr. O, Trent, Kira, and Kimberly evil."

"What!" Everyone who hadn't been there shouted, with deep frowns. Tommy looked especially sick over the thought. He'd been evil most recently, and becoming that again, apparently scared the shit out of him.

"We broke that spell too," Connor continued hurriedly, "but Mesogoghadturnedkimintothemonsterandididntknowandiusedmybattlelizerandblewherup."

"Did anyone catch his last sentence?" Jason stated, a deep frown on his face, looking at the teenage former red ranger who was hanging his head. Trini, Zack, and Tommy exchanged looks, shaking their heads in the negative.

Ethan sighed, looking at Trent and Kira who apparently did not want to relive that moment in any capacity, seeing how they'd started on the wrong side of the battle. "Mesogog had turned Kim into the monster, unknown to everyone, except Dr. O, who was still unconscious from us breaking the spell on him. Connor used his full power to bring down the monster, which nearly ended up costing Kim her life." As soon as Ethan finished, everyone was silent for a few moments. The four dino thunder teens reliving the moments, while the other four digested the new information.

"Wow," Jason stated, exhaling as he did. He pushed himself to his knees and then to his feet and walked over to Connor. He put both hands on the teenager's shoulders. Connor looked up at him. "She was trying to kill them all?" Connor looked at Tommy, Kira, Ethan, and Trent, remembering them all on the beach that day. His mouth formed a thin line and he nodded. "Then you did right," Jason told him. "You saved my friends and my teammates. Thank you," Jason told him. Connor inhaled and exhaled deeply, gratitude in his eyes and in the smile he answered Jason with. It meant a lot hearing those words coming from a man he held in such high esteem.

"Connor," Tommy's voice grabbed his former teammate's attention. Connor turned his head to face him. "Your power caused her to return to normal?" he asked, unsurely. Connor couldn't read the look in the boy's eyes, but he was sure it was something he'd just begun to see recently.

"Yeah," Connor muttered softly, and Tommy looked away.

"Thanks," he replied with a nod. To him, there was nothing worse than being evil. He knew everyone had seen his expression and how'd he'd reacted when he'd heard several of them had turned evil. He let them believe it was his response to the idea of becoming Rita's evil henchman again. In reality, it was Kimberly being evil that had truly shaken him. He couldn't imagine her having to go through that hell. He didn't want to.

"No problem," Connor replied, sensing what Tommy was getting at. He wouldn't call him out on it.

"Well," Zack stated, breaking the awkward silence that had descended on the group, "That got a whole lot more serious than I anticipated," he continued. "So, switching to a lighter topic," he added in. "I want to see this 'lab' you referred to."

Connor grinned and nodded, setting his nearly empty plate down beside him. "Sure thing," he replied, as he stood up, his non-regressed teammates following suit.

Tommy frowned for a moment, and then sighed, standing up as well. The lab was the source of his current problem. He had no desire to go back down. Trini picked Tyler up off the floor, while Jason slung his arm over the reluctant teenager's shoulder, as Connor led the entire group toward the entrance to the basement and down the stone steps. Once they'd all reached the bottom, Connor turned on the balls of his feet, and crossed his arms over his chest. "So, what do you think?"

"Connor," Kira stated, rolling her eyes. "Quit acting like you had anything to do with it. This was all Dr. O and Haley," she stated, watching the adults. However, she couldn't keep the prideful grin off her face as she watched the three former rangers study their surroundings.

"I will say," Jason stated, "the video chat did not do this place justice." He let his eyes linger over the computer systems, while Zack ran his hand over the stone walls. Trini set Tyler down on the floor near Tommy's desk, smiled when she saw the framed picture of their team, and picked it up. "Tommy built this place?" Jason laughed, looking at the teenager who scowled in response, a tiny smirk on his lips, as Tyler ran towards him and wrapped his arms around his father's leg. Jason placed the palm of his hand against the shy boys head, smoothing his hair, and trying to comfort him slightly, as he took in the most recent ranger command space.

"He had help," Ethan laughed in response, "but yes."

"This is pretty cool, man," Zack told the black clad teenager. Like Jason and Trini, he'd begun to observe his surroundings and had migrated over towards Tommy's desk. He pulled open a drawer in a file cabinet that was already cracked. "Glad to see your organizational skills haven't changed."

"Shut up," Tommy laughed in response, a slight tinge of red on his cheeks. He did have to admit that it was nice to hear that something was the same.

"Big talk for someone who hasn't finished growing," Zack teased, not turning around. He peered into the draw. "Hey cool," he stated, before Tommy could retort. Zack reached into the drawer with both hands and pulled out two items. He flipped his palms over to show Trini and Jason what he'd found.

"Told you your morpher and communicator would be here," Jason smirked reaching towards Zack's left hand and picking up the damaged, empty morpher. It was a bit blackened around the edges. He held it out to Tommy. "It's useless now, though," he explained.

Tommy hesitantly took the device from Jason, studying it carefully. His eyes were both sad and confused. "I just held it this morning," he muttered, but not to anyone specifically. Jason, Trini, and Zack, all sort of felt a similar emptiness to what Tommy did at that moment. "Where's the dragonzord power coin?" he asked, looking at Connor and the other teenagers, who shrugged.

"Green ranger powers didn't last long, bro," Jason explained. "I think I have your old dragonzord coin actually," he stated, and Tommy frowned. "You gave it to me," he assured the teenager. "But when this is all over," he added in, "I'll see if I can find it and send it back to you. These guys might like to see it," he added, jerking his thumb at the teenagers. "Have you seen a power coin before?"

"Kim's not sure where her pterodactyl one is," Kira stated, shaking her head, and the adults all nodded. "And I'm sure you know the story of what happened to the ninja ones."

"Yeah," Trini stated with a nod, although they could all see that Tommy clearly didn't. However, the teenager just sighed and shook his head, not really wanting to ask any more questions.

"I wonder if this thing works," Zack suddenly stated, although to no one in particular. Before the teenagers could answer his question, Zack had shifted the communicator he held in his hands into a comfortable position and pushed the communication button. Connor's face paled, Ethan smacked his forehead, and Trent placed both hands over his eyes, while Kira groaned. Jason and Trini gave them strange looks. For a few moments, nothing happened, and the teenagers began to sigh in relief, until a familiar female voice echoed through the speaker.

"What's wrong?" Kimberly's voice was no more than a whisper, and suddenly the older former rangers realized why the teenagers had reacted in such a way. The four of them had known that Kim had hers with her. Tommy's eyes shot open at the sound of the familiar voice and he visibly paled, while Connor groaned, and ran his hand over his face, while his teammates shot him helpless looks. "Tommy?" Kim's voice asked again, and Connor sighed, grabbing hold of the communicator from Zack. Zack, surprised, stepped back and glanced over at Jason and Trini who both shrugged.

"Hey Kim," Connor spoke into the old communicator, running his hand over the back of his head. "Sorry about that. Pressed it by accident."

"Connor," Kim replied, "why do you have Tommy's communicator?"

"I was cleaning up the lab a bit. Punishment from the practical joke we played earlier," Connor lied on the spot. His recently graduated teammates rolled their eyes at him. Kira wanted to open her mouth to protest, but Kim began to speak again.

"You realize I had to go to the airplane lavatory to answer this thing! It's only for emergencies," she told him, and Connor grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Lady in the aisle seat thinks I'm crazy."

"I'm sorry," he muttered pitifully, and they all heard Kimberly sigh.

"Don't let it happen again," she scolded, clearly irritated. They didn't blame her. She must have thought a monster was attacking Reefside or something.

"I won't," Connor promised. "See you soon," he added in.

"Yeah," Kimberly stated, clearly not pleased about the fact, as the transmission ended. Connor let out a sigh of relief, slumping his shoulders.

"Dude," Ethan stated the moment the transmission ended. "Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

"Cause I really don't think Kim freaking out at thirty thousand feet somewhere over the Pacific Ocean would be a good thing," Connor replied, and Jason laughed, nodding his head in agreement.

"Kid's got a point," he stated, his face showing amusement. "There's really no telling what she'd do."

"You're just digging your grave deeper with her," Trent said, shaking his head in pity. Connor sighed and nodded, his face going almost as pale as Tommy's. The former adult still hadn't said anything. Apparently he was pretty freaked out by Kimberly's voice.

"Did that answer your question Zack?" Trini asked, crossing her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow and smirking at her friend. Zack blushed slightly in response and nodded.

"I swear to Zordon if one more of you regressed yourselves, I'm going to gut you with the power ax," Adam's voice suddenly emanated from the communicator still clutched in Connor's hand. Everyone in the room jumped sky high, not expecting another response. Connor just smacked himself in the face with his other hand while Zack grinned and lunged forward to grab the communicator back.

"Adam!" he laughed into the device. "I don't think you're allowed to gut me with my own weapon," he added.

"Zack!" Adam's tone changed from annoyance to pleasure when he realized who he was speaking to. "Hey man, was this your communicator?" he added, not really sure who had sent the summoning six toned command. A moment before he'd been sure it had been Connor and the other teenagers, but now he was questioning his assumption.

"No," Zack replied. "It's Tommy's. But I assure you, no one else has regressed," he added.

"Not physically, anyway," Trini muttered loud enough for the communicator to pick up her voice. She was glaring at the dark skinned man, and Jason was beside her, snickering.

"Trini is that you?" Adam's voice asked.

"Hi Adam, how's Tanya?" she asked, moving to stand closer to the communicator. Zack held it up towards her.

"She's good. In the shower, so she has no idea about this, which is good, otherwise, she'd be seeking vengeance against whomever was responsible, which is who by the way?"

"Zack," Trini laughed. "He had to know if it still worked," she added in, and Adam laughed in response.

"Clearly, the answer is yes," Zack added.

"Zack," Adam laughed, "don't play with ranger technology."

"This from a man who used a broken morpher and a damaged power coin," Zack retorted with a laugh.

"I said I was sorry. How was I supposed to know you carried yours in your back pocket?" Adam chuckled. "It is not entirely my fault that your ass caught fire," he added in.

All five current teenagers, who'd been desperately trying to follow the conversation, frowned at that one and cast questioning looks at Zack, who blushed slight and shrugged his shoulders.

"Not entirely," Zack agreed, with a nod, "but definitely mostly your fault. Smart people don't morph with unstable powers."

"Smart people don't randomly use old communicators. If you wanted to know if it worked, you could have just asked," he laughed. "I'm assuming you guys are with the kids."

"We're high school graduates, you know," Kira stated, although there was clear amusement in her voice. "I resent being called a kid. We were the same age for two weeks, if you remember."

"Don't start," Adam replied, laughter in his voice.

"We swear we would have stopped him if we had known he was going to try it. As it is, Kimberly answered," Ethan stated.

"Wonderful," was Adam's response, and they could imagine him rolling his eyes, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "You catch her up on the situation."

"Didn't think that was a good idea. Told her I did it by accident," Connor explained.

"Connor," Adam stated simply. "She's going to kill you, dig up the body, and kill you again," he told the most recent red ranger.

"Yeah well," Connor muttered, knowing it was true, but also realizing there was nothing he could do about it. "Hopefully she'll make it quick."

"Don't count on it," Jason laughed.

"Jason," Adam stated. "I thought you were handling this," he laughed.

"I am. Tommy's not in panic mode anymore," he retorted. "Are you, Tommy?" he asked, turning to the teenage boy. Tommy's eyes were still wide as he listened in on the entire conversation, still trying to figure out why Zack's ass would have caught on fire. The regressed ranger shook his head no. "He says no," Jason laughed, and Adam joined in.

"Whatever," he stated, amusement in his voice. "I think it's safe to assume Rocky didn't hear the alert, and the signal's not strong enough to reach Billy, so you shouldn't get anymore responses, unless Kat has hers. Or maybe Justin."

"We'll let Zack handle explanations if they're needed," Trini stated. "This is his fault after all," she added in.

"Alright," Adam laughed. "Night guys. I'll see you all tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Jason replied with a nod, and the transmission ended. Jason and Trini both looked at Zack and shook their heads, amused and disappointed. "What did you learn?" Jason snatched the communicator from Zack and handed it over to Tommy with a pointed look. The teenager took it with a slight smile and strapped it to his wrist. His demeanor showed he was definitely slightly more at ease with it in place.

"Nothing," Zack replied. "That was fun," he laughed. Jason opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off.

"DINOSAUW!" a small, brand new voice added to the room. All eight somewhat grown individuals in the room turned to follow the sound, only to discover the youngest member of the Scott family had climbed up Tommy's desk chair, attempting to get a look at the small replica of a raptor skeleton on a shelf above it. In the chaos that Zack had caused with the communicator, no one had noticed the child slip away.

"Jason Scott!" Trini hissed, as she ran towards the boy and swooped him up off the chair, pulling him close to her. The chair spun and rolled slightly out of the way. "You were supposed to be watching him!"

"Trini," Jason laughed, "relax. He's a boy. He climbed on a chair. No harm done." He watched as his son squirmed in his mother's arms, desperately trying to get into a position that would allow him to see the skeleton. Jason took pity on him and lifted him from Trini's protective hold, and brought him within eye level of the skeleton.

"Have you forgotten that somewhere in this room is a device that turned a twenty seven year old man into a fifteen year old boy?" Trini scowled, planting both of her hands on her hips. Jason grimaced at the reminder. "Who knows what other dangerous things are down here!"

"Sorry," Jason muttered, and Trini just sighed, shaking her head. Kira giggled slightly, while Ethan and Trent began looking around to see if there was anything in the immediate location that they should move. Connor on the other hand, was intrigued that there was, evidently, a topic that could coax sound out of the small child.

"You like dinosaurs, huh?" Connor asked, walking up to where Jason was holding Tyler, reminding him that he needed to look with his eyes, and not with his hands. "I like dinosaurs, too," he added to the toddler who had nodded in response to his first question.

"You do?" Tyler replied back, his eyes going wide.

"Yep," Connor replied with a grin. Jason grinned in response, enjoying the fact that his shy son was beginning to converse with someone he'd only just met. "There's lots of dinosaur things around here," he explained. "What's your favorite?"

"Tywannosowis," Tyler replied, fidgeting a bit. Jason set him on the floor and Connor knelt down so that he was eye level with the boy.

"Ty!" Zack whined, his tone humorous, and joking, almost. "You said the Mastodon was your favorite."

"Uncle Zack, Masdon was cool last week. Tywannosowis eats them for bweakfast," Tyler explained as if it was the most evident thing in the entire world.

"That's my boy," Jason smirked, and Trini rolled her eyes.

"Tyrannosaurus is my favorite too," Connor told Tyler, getting a grin from the boy in response. "He's definitely the coolest."

"No way, dude," Ethan joked, coming over to them. "Triceratops has him beat. There's nothing cooler than that."

"Except maybe the pterosaur," Trent suggested with a casual smirk.

"As if," Kira laughed. "The pterodactyl would wipe the floor with all of those," she added in.

"You like dinosauws?" Tyler asked her. He'd been following the debate between the teenagers with his eyes. His gaze was wide and held surprise and awe.

"Of course," she smiled at him, taking a seat on the nearby sofa.

"But you're a giwl," Tyler stated.

"Tyler," Trini laughed, "I like dinosaurs and I'm a girl," she added in.

"You'we not a giwl," Tyler told her, matter of fact. "You'we a mommy," he added in, getting a laugh.

"You're all wrong though," Tommy finally told them. "Nothing is cooler than a Dragon, except maybe a Dragonzord," he laughed.

"No way bro," Jason retorted, shaking his head. "Dragonzords not even a dinosaur. Face it, T-rex is king," he laughed.

"Yeah!" Tyler added.

"Three against one," Connor replied to Tommy with a smirk, "and one, and one, and one, and one," he added looking at Zack, Ethan, Trent, and Kira in turn." He stuck his tongue out in a juvenile fashion, and Tyler and Jason copied him.

"Oh really," Tommy questioned, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow. "How come I almost destroyed you with it then?" he laughed at Jason, a bit of coldness in his voice as he recalled the moment.

"You had the advantage of being evil. On a level playing field, I would have crushed you," Jason laughed back.

"Are you all seriously debating whose dinosaur based zord was the coolest?" Trini asked, mainly looking at Jason and Tommy, but realizing that each of the others was involved to. It didn't take a genius to notice the dinosaur motif in the lab, indicating what the source of the teenagers' powers had been.

"We are," Jason confirmed for her, with a simple nod. "I didn't hear you vote for the sabretooth tiger, so we'll just assume you're on team tyrannosaurus," he added, and Trini rolled her eyes.

"And with that," she stated, picking her son up off the floor. "I'd say everyone has passed into a state of deliriously over tired. I think it's time to head to the hotel and put Tyler to bed."

"Not Tyler anymore," the boy stated, shaking his head. Trini sighed and shook her head.

"Fine," she stated, rolling her eyes. She'd clearly been through this conversation with the child before. "It's time for Tyrrano to go to bed," she told him, rubbing her nose against his and getting a giggle from him in response. She looked at Jason out of the corner of her eyes. "This is your fault for insisting his name begin with 'Ty', you know that right?" Jason snorted in laughter and nodded.

"We should get going too," Kira suggested. "Our parents will start calling us if we get home too late," she added in, getting nods from Trent and Ethan. The teenagers led the entire group back up the stairs and into the living room. Trini grabbed her purse, slinging it over the arm that wasn't supporting Tyler, as the group headed towards the front door.

"You guys go," Connor stated. "Ethan, I'll call my parents and say I'm crashing at your place tonight?" he asked his former teammate who nodded. "I think I should stay here to explain things to Kim when she gets home," he added, getting nods and statements of agreement from Kira, Trent, and Ethan. Trent patted his shoulder and gave him a look that suggested he pitied him.

"I should stay too," Jason stated, realizing that Tommy had begun to look pale at the prospect of being left alone again with the teenagers he didn't know and Kim coming home. "Someone should at least attempt to stop Kim from committing murder; if only so she doesn't go to jail."

"Thanks," Connor muttered dryly.

"Besides, I kind of like the kid," he added in, smirking over his shoulder at Connor. He caught the slight shift from well hidden distress to well hidden joy on Tommy's face out of the corner of his eye as he walked over to Trini. He placed his hands on both her shoulders and scanned her face. "You ok with that?"

"Yeah," she stated in response, nodding, despite the fact that she looked a little reluctant to be separated from him. "I requested two joining rooms, so Zack will be right next door."

"I'll watch over them," Zack stated with a nod, indicating that he knew Jason was reluctant to leave Trini and Tyler in a strange city. He knew his friend hated whenever he had to spend a night away from them. They all felt that way about being parted from those they loved. He figured it was a conditioned response to being a power ranger. Never knowing when and where there would be danger. He patted Jason on the shoulder, and the first red ranger gave him a nod of appreciation in return.

"Right," Jason replied, turning back to Trini. "You know what card to use for the hotel?" he asked her, as he fished into his pocket and handed her the keys to their SUV, and she nodded. Jason smiled and kissed her lips, before kissing the top of Tyler's head and running his hand over the boy's hair. Tyler had already laid his head down on Trini's shoulder. Apparently, at the mention of sleep, he had realized how tired he was.

"Bye guys," Connor called as everyone, except him, Jason, and Tommy left the house. "I'll show you more dinosaur stuff tomorrow, ok Tyler?"

"Ok" the boy called back, sleepily. He waved to Connor as Zack took him from Trini to get him situated in his car seat, while Trini climbed into the driver's seat and began to adjust the seat. Jason watched until they'd all left, before he joined the two teenagers back in the living room.

"So," Tommy stated as soon as he walked in, a mischievous look on his face. "You and Trini, huh?"

* * *

The plan for that evening was for all three of them to remain awake until Kimberly got home. They figured, that way, things would go as smoothly as possible. Kimberly could be reasonable, especially if she was presented with a potential solution and a positive to the situation. Jason figured that the problem would be outweighed by the fact that he, Trini, Zack, and Tyler were joining in on the reunion. Unfortunately, none of them had counted on the fact that they were all exhausted. Tommy's regression seemed to have taken a greater toll on him than they had all anticipated, and as a result, he was drifting to sleep by twelve thirty in the morning. He had been sitting on the sofa, struggling to keep his eyes open, and not yawn himself to death. It was finally Jason, who watched the teenager's head fall forward for the twentieth time who commanded him to go to bed, arguing that he and Connor could handle the explanations. Tommy reluctantly agreed, and Connor showed him where the bedrooms were. Between them, they agreed it was probably best if Tommy slept in the guest room. Kim would be less upset by the situation if she could at least sleep in her own bed after spending the night on an airplane. He'd rummaged through the drawer in the guest room and found a few pairs of sweat pants that the three dino thunder boys had kept there in case of emergency. He pulled out two pairs of predominantly red, and one white, which belonged to Trent. He passed the white pair to Tommy, ignoring the nervous look the boy wore. He was clearly not happy to be going from black to white, but as far as Connor was concerned, there wasn't any green that he knew of.

Once he'd gotten Tommy settled, Connor went to the bathroom, changed into the sweat pants to be comfortable, and then walked back into the living room to find Jason browsing through Tommy's DVD collection. He tossed his second pair of red sweat pants at Jason who caught them, and tossed them into the arm chair.

"Thanks. Everything good?" Jason asked Connor, who nodded in response.

"Thanks for staying," Connor replied. "And thanks for coming, again."

"Not a problem," Jason replied, selecting a DVD from the collection and opening the box. "I'm surprised the correct disk is in here," he muttered, getting a smirk from Connor.

"That's Kim's doing," he assured Jason, shaking his head and falling onto the sofa.

"Of course it is," Jason laughed, bringing the disk towards the TV set and the entertainment system his old friend had set up. "So, he was really your mentor?"

"Yeah," Connor told him, with a nod as he watched Jason.

"I suppose he would be good at that," Jason stated with a nod, putting the DVD into the player. "Twin Dragons ok with you?" The movie was one he remembered watching all the time with Tommy when they were kids. They'd worn out both their copies of the VHS tapes. He hadn't been surprised to find that Tommy had it on DVD, among his other movies.

"Sure," Connor replied. "And yeah, he was pretty good at the mentor thing. Look," Connor said with a sigh. "I know he messed up in the past, but I know he had the intention of contacting you after our trip to the past. He just got preoccupied with everything with losing our powers."

"You're a good kid, Connor. A good leader," Jason said, shaking his head as he took a seat in the arm chair. He recognized what Connor was trying to do. He was doing the same thing Jason would. Trying to protect his teammate whenever he could. "But our relationship is between Tommy and I, alright?"

"I guess," Connor stated, sighing, and yawning.

"I swear I won't kill him if that makes you feel any better about it," Jason assured him, and Connor nodded, realizing that was the best he could hope for.

It didn't surprise Jason that about a half hour into the movie, Connor drifted off to sleep on the sofa. It was approaching quarter after two in the morning when, bored, tired, and clearly alone, Jason also succumbed to sleep in the chair, his head propped up on his hand.

The room darkened as the credits from the movie finished rolling, leaving only a dull glow to light the house, when a Taxi cab pulled up on the street in front of the house at nearly three am. A brown haired woman, dressed in a pink t-shirt and leggings, fighting a yawn, tipped the driver well when he kindly carried her suitcase from the trunk to the front door. She gave him a polite smile, before she used her key to let herself into the house, sighing as she did, happy to be home at last. Yawning again, she dropped her keys back into her purse and placed it on the table in the entrance way, before she shut the front door and locked it behind her. She stretched and decided to leave her bags in the foyer to unpack once the sun was up. Company wouldn't be there until afternoon. She could handle it later.

She bypassed the living room, and headed down the hallway, flipping on the hall light as she went. She entered the bedroom she shared with her boyfriend, and frowned. The light from the hall revealed that he wasn't in bed, nor had he ever been that night. The blankets were still made up. Fighting slight panic, she turned her back on her bedroom, and poked her head into the guest room. Relief welled up in her when she saw a lump on his usual side of the bed. She smiled slightly, slipping into her bedroom to change, thinking that he was trying to be sweet and enable to her to turn lights on without fear of waking him up.

It didn't take her long to change into one of his black t-shirts that she normally slept in, and to brush her teeth and wash her face. Within minutes, she left the master bedroom and flipped off the light. She left the hall light on for a moment, remembering her promise to him about waking him to let him know she was safe. Besides, she had something she wanted to tell him.

She entered the guest room, leaving the door wide open, and crawled onto the bed, perching herself on her knees, placing her hands on his side. He had his back to her. The light from the hall only reached up to his knees, leaving most of his body in shadow. He stirred very slightly at the weight on his side, and she giggled, dropping her head to within a fraction of an inch from his ear. "Wake up handsome; I was going to wait till tomorrow to tell you, but" she whispered, before moving slightly to kiss the back of his neck. As soon as her lips met hair, Kimberly jerked backwards, frowning, startled.

Tommy's hair was short and spiked. It should not have obstructed her from kissing his neck. Groggily, Tommy rolled onto his back, groaning slightly, as he sat up in the bed. Forgetting exactly where he was and what was happening, and not being entirely aware that he was not alone, Tommy reached toward the night stand beside him and found the lamp. He turned the knob, which caused both individuals to blink a few times as their eyes adjusted. Tommy's hands flew to his eyes in fists as he tried to shield them, while Kimberly's finally flew open as she stared at the teenage boy in front of her, her mouth falling open. Only when Tommy finally made eye contact with her, did her eyes roll back into her head as she fainted onto the bed.

Tommy blinked rapidly, the color draining from his face. He had finally pieced together the situation. He had no idea what to do. The plan had never been for Kimberly to discover him on her own. Connor and Jason were supposed to prevent that. "JASON!" he shouted, pushing himself out of the bed. He didn't care what was happening. He was not supposed to share a bed with a Kimberly. "JASON!" he shouted a second time, backing away from the bed like a startled animal.


	6. Chapter 6

One quick note I forgot to make at the end of chapter 5 - all spelling errors when Tyler or Katie speak are purposeful. Clearly, Tyler's speech will be a bit better as he's almost four. But Katie's not three yet. They're both capable of conversing, but spelling is to add to the childishness of it.

Oh, and I'm being really nice. Normally, I wait till I have at least two chapters of more finished before posting one. I only just got chapter 7 finished this morning. It took a while to get out. Hoping Chapter 8 will write more smoothly. I'm going to give it a go this evening. So yeah! Review if you enjoy - or even if you don't and want to tell me so in a constructive way.

* * *

"Jason!" Tommy screamed a third time, his eyes frantic, and his face pale. As Tommy continued to stare at the unconscious body of an only half dressed Kimberly, who was twelve years older than he remembered her being, he tried to keep himself from panicking too badly. Unconscious and older than he remembered, Kimberly was still the most beautiful girl, or rather woman in this case, he'd ever laid his eyes on. And she'd just touched him in ways that had officially freaked out his fifteen year old mind. Not that he wouldn't have wanted her to touch him that way. Just more that he couldn't quite comprehend what was happening. In his memory, Kimberly had no idea how much he liked her. And now she was kissing him? It was too much to process. "Jason!" he shouted again as it was apparently the only word left in his vocabulary. His calls were responded to by a thunderous sound of footsteps. Two disheveled and only semi awake former red rangers burst into the room, the older followed very closely by the younger.

"What's going on? What's happening?" Jason shouted, his eyes darting around the room, instantly looking for whatever danger there was. The last time he'd ever heard Tommy shout his name was when they were both morphed and there was some kind of attack that Jason needed to be alerted to. Every fiber of his being was now searching for that danger, his half asleep mind not fully registering that he was no longer a power ranger, and despite the fact that Tommy currently inhabited the body and mind of a fifteen year old, he wasn't either.

"You said you were going to prevent this!" Tommy responded with anxiety and irritation, as well as absolute terror in his voice, as he gestured to Kimberly's prone figure on the bed. His eyes were wide with fear, but Jason could tell he was also slightly pissed off. Jason blinked a few times, trying to determine exactly what it was he was supposed to prevent.

"Shit," Connor stated, shifting his weight out of attack position. He hadn't really thought there was any danger, but he had taken his cue on how to react to Tommy shouting for them from Jason. His eyes fell on Kimberly, and he ran his hands over his face before grimacing and glancing at Jason, not entirely sure what he should do at that moment.

"Fuck!" Jason replied at the same time as Connor spoke. He looked from Tommy's clearly terrified position against the bedroom wall, to Kimberly on the bed. He was definitely not surprised that she'd fainted, or that Tommy had no idea to do about the situation. While it wasn't the first time Tommy had really made her faint, Jason was pretty sure that in the current state of the former ranger's memory, it was the first time he'd witnessed it. "We must have fallen asleep. I didn't hear her come in."

"You fell asleep!" Tommy growled at him, quite disturbed, his eyes flashing in fear and anger. "She touched me!"

"So?" Connor laughed slightly, his body fully relaxing as he looked away from Kimberly and over at Tommy cowering in the corner. Jason went to the bed. Both of them were much more awake than they'd be a few seconds before as they realized what the current issue was.

"She kissed me!" Tommy stated in response, his face pale.

"So?" Connor laughed and repeated, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall near the doorway. His eyes were on Jason, but he glanced at Tommy out of his peripheral vison.

"She's half naked, Connor," Tommy argued, narrowing his eyes at the other teenager.

"I repeat, so?" Connor smirked at the expression on Tommy's face. The boy's mouth had fallen open as he gave Connor a look that could only be interpreted as panic. Connor snorted a slight laugh, thinking of how innocent Tommy actually was. Things between girls and guys were clearly different in the nineties. Either that, or Tommy was much more pure than Connor had ever thought possible. "Dude, she's you're girlfriend." He didn't quite see the problem. When he was fifteen, he'd have been ecstatic if a half-naked, beautiful woman had kissed him.

"But I'm clearly not her boyfriend, yet!" Tommy responded, shaking his head.

"Both of you," Jason growled, "cut it out," he informed them, rolling his eyes at the two teenagers. He had a kid who, at four, was already more well-behaved than the two teenagers in the room. He sighed and turned his attention back to Kimberly. He wrapped his arm under her shoulders and supported her into a half sitting position. He then ran his hand over her forehead and hair, hoping to wake her gently. "Come on Kim," he told called to her when he felt her shift slightly underneath his touch. She groaned, and Jason slowly eased her into a full sitting position, before he took a seat on the bed beside her, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders for support. Connor stopped smirking at Tommy, while Tommy tore his glare off Connor and pressed himself back against the wall, trying to stay out of Kimberly's line of sight.

"What happened?" Kimberly muttered, bringing her hands to her head, and rubbing her eyes, which she still hadn't opened.

"You passed out," Jason replied, with a chuckle in his voice. He laughed a bit harder when he felt Kimberly stiffen in response. Her head snapped to the side, and her hands dropped to her lap as her eyes sprung open.

"Jason," she breathed, a grin of delight taking place on her face for a moment. She instantly threw herself toward him and wrapped her arms around his neck, sitting on her knees beside him on the bed. Jason released her as she spun and then wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tight for a moment, before he felt Kim draw back, her smile replaced with a scowl. "What's going on? Why are you here? I…" she stopped talking for a moment as her eyes darted off of Jason's face and onto the surrounding room. She found Connor first and her scowl deepened. It was the middle of the night. Connor should not have been there any more than Jason should have been. "I.." she started again, "had the strangest," she continued, her eyes still darting around. They finally found and focused on the familiar young teenage boy who appeared to be trying to make himself disappear in the corner. "Damn it! It wasn't a dream!" she growled, tearing her gaze off of him and locking on Jason. If she looked at the boy more than she had to, she might have been sick, or pass out again.

"Yeah, nope, it's not a dream," Jason told her, rewrapping his arm over her shoulder and hugging her to him, knowing she might to dissolve into hysterics.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Kimberly pouted, exhausted physically and mentally. She turned her head and buried her face in his shoulder, willing him to make everything bad go away. She wasn't panicking. Shocked yes. Panicked no.

"Sorry about that," Jason chuckled lightly, "Connor and I fell asleep."

"Nice going," she grumbled, sitting up and looking at him in the face, her eyes still avoiding the boy in the corner. She clearly knew who he was, but she was avoiding admitting it to herself for as long as possible. Jason slowly released her as she sat there, looking down at her hands in her lap. He and Connor frowned, not really expecting her to be so calm. Suddenly her head snapped up and she narrowed her glare at Connor, who gulped. "I go away for two weeks, and chaos!" she growled, jumping to her feet and lunging toward him. Her gut told her that Connor was somehow involved in this, and even if he wasn't, she was pissed that she hadn't been informed. Clearly the teenager knew he could get in touch with her on a plane if necessary. This situation should have made it necessary. "What the hell happened?" she asked shouted, allowing herself a slight peek at the younger teenager in the corner.

"Dr. O was explaining the memory device he and Haley were working on," Connor began, his face going pale and red at the exact same time. He dropped his arms away from his chest.

"What memory device?" Kimberly growled, beyond irritated. Connor was almost sure he saw her eyes flash red. She actually turned to face the boy cowering in the corner, glaring at him. Just what she didn't need. Tommy had been working on some type of strange device. So clearly this was at least partially his fault. In her narrowed gaze, she watched the teenager shrink back further against the wall, clearly terrified of her. She was pretty sure he was wishing he could teleport out of the situation. She didn't blame him for that because she had determined that it might be the only way she was going to allow him to leave the room alive.

"You didn't know?" Connor asked her, and Kimberly's attention went right back to him, the expression on her face indicating that she had been as in the dark about it as all of the other former rangers. "I guess it was a surprise for you, too," he questioned more than stated.

"You think?" she growled, sarcastically, stalking closer to Connor. Jason took that moment to leap off the bed and wrap his hand around on of her wrists, pulling her back towards him and the bed, giving the teenager a bit more space. Connor's facial expression showed he was on the verge of running.

"Let the boy talk or you'll never get your explanation," Jason told her calmly and assertively. He felt his former teammate relax slightly, but she never took her eyes off Connor.

Kimberly nodded, which Connor took as a sign to continue. "Dr. O had Haley make a device that would let you all relive memories during the reunion."

"Did he now?" Kimberly growled, glaring at the younger teenager, who gulped and pressed himself flat against the wall again. He'd seen her glare at him like that only once. It was when she'd confronted him about his identity as the evil green ranger. He really didn't like that glare.

"Yeah," Connor continued, looking to Jason for courage. The first red ranger just gave him a kind smile and a shrug of his shoulders, as he released Kimberly's wrist. Connor took a deep breath. "Anyway, he was demonstrating how it would work, and I kind of accidentally hit it with my soccer ball, and this was the result," he finished.

"You did what?" Kimberly hissed, her glare focusing on Connor. She charged towards him, "You're saying this is your fault?" Connor shrieked slightly and backed out of the room, hiding slightly behind the doorframe.

"Please don't kill me!" he squeaked out.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't destroy you?" she growled, standing over the now cowering former ranger leader.

"It's not entirely his fault, Kim," Jason told her, taking a small bit of pity on the teenager. He lunged toward her again and this time wrapped one arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him. Kimberly attempted to fight him off in an attempt to get back to the teenager that she wanted to terminate, but without power of any kind, Jason was clearly stronger than her "Tommy's the one who decided to demonstrate an unfinished device."

"Idiot!" she shouted, forcing herself from Jason's grasp and rounding on the teenager in the corner, who squeaked and ended up crouching on the floor against the wall, half hidden by the dresser, in response. Monsters he could deal with. Rita, Goldar, putties – they were all nothing. Even being thrust over a decade into the future (from his point of view) seemed like a walk in the park compared to this. This version of Kimberly however, might have almost been enough to cause him to wet himself in terror. "I'm surrounded by fucking idiots!" she cursed, a Jason resumed his hold on her. He could feel on shaking in anger against his chest. "Explain to me why you didn't tell me this when you accidentally reached me via communicator?" Kimberly hissed, venom still in her voice as she continued to glare at Connor, ignoring Jason's defense of the recent high school graduate and the fact that his arms were currently imprisoning her. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides.

"I didn't want you to panic. It's not like you could have done anything while on the flight," Connor stated. "And I technically didn't accidentally hit the communicator," he stated, trying to shrink himself, knowing the hole he was in was getting deeper.

"You did it on purpose?" Kimberly asked him, her expression one of anger and disbelief. The idea was so stupid that it nearly knocked all of the anger out of her tone. She looked between the three of them bewildered.

"Not exactly," Jason laughed. "It was an accident," he explained. "But Connor didn't do it, Zack did."

"Zack's here?" Kimberly asked, her glare softening at the mention of one of her old friends. She'd seen Trini and Jason the summer before when the girls had decided to get together for a girls trip. But she hadn't seen Zack in years. Granted, she'd seen him more in the past than she'd seen Tommy before the whole time travel incident four months before, but that was beside the point. The idea that all of her friends were present actually made her happy, never mind the fact that something seriously strange was responsible, and it was the middle of the night. While he hadn't enlightened her to the fact that Trini was present, Kim had begun to piece together that where Jason was, Trini wouldn't be far, and neither would Tyler. So in addition to her other friends arriving in the morning, her oldest friends would all be there as well. The realization acted like a fire extinguisher on her temper. Jason nodded to her question, before he realized that Kim's expression slowly shifted from slightly pleased to paranoid, as he released her so that she could look at him. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, or the others for that matter, but would you mind explaining why you're here?"

"Um…" Jason hesitated, glancing at Tommy who was still plastered to the wall, his face alternating between his first two ranger colors as he listened to the conversation.

"Jason," Kimberly growled, placing both of her hands on her hips. "Tommy hadn't worked up the courage to contact you since we got back together, and I highly doubt he would have done it with me gone," she stated, narrowing her eyes at him, knowing he was trying to find a way out of answering her question. She'd spent most of the last few months, trying to convince Tommy to reach out to the others, but with Mesogog attacking, and then Mesogog's defeat, and then the teens graduating high school, and rebuilding the lab, she hadn't pressed him as hard as she should have. In fact, she hadn't even mentioned the fact that she knew Jason and Trini were married with a son. She wasn't sure what Tommy knew of that situation. After all, Tyler was actually born before the red rangers' moon mission. However, since Jason and Trini were aware of her relationship status with Tommy at the time, the mission had only been briefly mentioned when they'd gotten together.

"There's a slight complication to the current problem," Jason told her, his voice going higher as he pinched his fingers together to emphasize slight as he shifted his gaze to the boy. Kimberly looked from him to Connor, who was standing in the doorway biting his lip, to the teenager in the corner. He'd stood back up, but was clearly still pressed against the wall, watching her like she was a 50 foot tall monster and his zord was destroyed already. She searched the boy's eyes, not finding the recognition she was looking for. Instead she was met by terror and uncertainty. It was at that moment that she realized that he hadn't said a word. He'd let Connor and Jason do all the explanation. Tommy never would have done that. He would have encouraged her not to kill Connor. He'd have been the one holding her back. He would have apologized for his part in the problem. He would have been sitting right beside her. She would have woken up in his arms, not Jason's. He would not be fidgeting in a corner looking like he would rather be stepped on by a megazord than be in a room with her.

Kimberly's eyes widened as she opened her mouth and shouted at the other two. "He thinks he's a fucking teenager?" she yelled, glaring at Connor and Jason, both who rubbed the backs of their necks, grimacing as Kim figured out the slight complication. "Great; just fucking great. My boyfriend's like twelve!" she muttered to herself, pacing the floor.

"Fifteen," Tommy squeaked out, and Jason and Connor watched in horror as his voice caused Kimberly to stop in her tracks and stop ranting. She slowly turned on the balls of her feet so that she was facing him, ice in her eyes. Tommy's eyes widened and he gulped, casting a quick glance that pleaded for help, to Connor and Jason. Both of them widened their eyes and shook their heads, pretty much indicating the teen was on his own.

"What did you say?" she asked him, her voice flat and emotionless.

"I'm fifteen. Jason uh… he… uh… just destroyed the sword of darkness not even a week ago," Tommy muttered, casting his gaze from Kimberly to his feet. She exhaled sharply and slumped her shoulders, realizing that as irritated with the situation as she was, Tommy was terrified. He'd just finished his stint as the evil ranger. She remembered how hard it was for him to accept their friendship during those first few months. And of course, that meant that Tommy was in a mental state of not even knowing she had a crush on him, which meant that finding out they were living together was probably scaring him even more.

"Of course you are," Kimberly replied gently, shaking her head, and turning back to face the two other individuals. "Without me here, he had no one he recognized, huh?" Kimberly asked Jason and Connor both who shook their heads. "How'd you get Jason here?" she asked Connor.

"We contacted Rocky and Adam. They put us in touch with Jason," Connor explained, finally a bit more confident that Kim wasn't going to kill him. She nodded and rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index finger on her right hand. She sighed.

"Well, I guess it is what it is," Kimberly stated, with another sigh. There was something sad in her expression that no one could identify as she slumped her shoulders and let a weak smile form on her face. "Should have known this wasn't going to be a normal reunion." She realized she'd only been kidding herself when she'd thought that they were finally done with weirdness in their lives. "Thanks for coming Jase," she told him, walking over and wrapping her arms around his middle.

"Anytime Kimmy," he told her, squeezing her back. She didn't release him, but turned her head to look back to Tommy.

"Sorry I snapped at you," she told the teenager, a sweet smile on her face. "It's been a long day, and I definitely wasn't expecting this." She fought to keep herself from giggling when Tommy blushed. She might not have been fifteen anymore, but he reacted to her the same way he had back then. She watched as he nodded and cast his gaze to his feet. "It's late. We should all go to bed. We can deal with this more in the morning," she stated. "I assume the plan is to hold out till Billy gets here?"

"Trini's going to look at the device tomorrow," Jason told her with a nod, "but she's not confident she'll be able to figure out something so complex. She, Zack, and Ty are at the hotel. So basically, yeah, we wait on Billy."

"What about Haley?" Kimberly asked Connor. She was still clinging to Jason, for emotional and physical stability.

"We left her a voicemail," Connor replied, "but we doubt she'll check her phone anytime soon," he added in and Kimberly nodded. She remembered Tommy saying Haley was going to be boycotting technology most of the week she was gone. However, she wondered if anyone knew what hotel she was staying in. They could potentially contact her that way in the morning.

"Alright," Kim stated, looking back at Tommy and sighing. "You can come out of the corner," she told him. "Seriously," she smirked. "You're supposed to be a power ranger and you're scared of me?"

"Kim," Jason told her. "You know damn well you're scarier than any monster. Besides, he knows that you know that he has a crush on you. And he's fifteen! Fifteen year olds are not equipped to handle finding out that the girl they have a crush on is living with them more than a decade later."

"I'm perfectly able to handle it," Tommy retorted, throwing a glare at Jason. Jason was not going to make him look foolish in front of Kimberly.

"Really?" Connor snorted. "That's why you freaked because she kissed you?" he laughed, his eyebrow raised. Tommy shifted his glare from Jason to Connor while Jason started laughing. Even Kimberly began to chuckle at his expense.

"Aww," Kimberly stated, releasing Jason, and walking towards Tommy. Tommy stiffened when she placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed his cheek lightly. She didn't have to lean up as far as she normally did to do so. "Handsome," she stated, using her nickname for him. "Don't lie to yourself," she added. "You were never really good at lying," she added, releasing him and shaking her head, stepping back and turning her back on him. "Get some sleep Tommy," she spoke to the stunned boy who was glowing a brighter shade of red than any of the ranger costumes she'd ever seen. "We'll talk more in the morning. Connor?"

"Yeah?" the real teenager in the room replied.

"Give Jason the couch," she informed him. "You can sleep on the porch for all I care. And if I see another soccer ball any time soon, I will use it to beat the shit out of you."

"Yes ma'am," Connor replied as he and Jason followed her out of the guest room. She nodded once, and disappeared into her bedroom.

* * *

Trini was in the hotel bathroom brushing her teeth the next morning when there was a knock on the connecting door. "It's open," she called as loudly as she dared since it wasn't even eight in the morning yet. She heard the door handle turn, and Tyler's happy squeal of "Morning Uncle Zack!" from where he sat at the desk, munching on a bowl of fruit loops while watching an episode of Rolie Polie Olie that Trini had set the television to. Normally she was not a proponent of the virtual babysitter, but they were technically on vacation, and there were normally two adults present to keep the boy entertained. Without a bunch of new people around, Tyler was not a quiet or shy boy. And she needed a few minutes of peace to get herself together.

She grinned slightly as she heard Zack greet the boy as "Tyranno" in response. Usually when Tyler decided he was going to be a dinosaur, it lasted for a few days and Zack was pretty familiar with the boy's habits. A few minutes later, Trini finished up in the bathroom and walked back out into the hotel room, only to find the toddler had abandoned his food half eaten and was standing on the bed his fingers curled like the claws of a dinosaur as he stalked towards Zack who laid on the bed on his back pretending to scream in fear while Tyler roared at him. Zack was dressed in a mix of khaki, grey, and black, ready for another summer day, while Tyler wore only his pajama shirt which featured a t-rex and a pair of under-roos with Superman on them. Trini sighed when she saw the two of them.

"Tyler William Scott!" she stated, in a firm voice as she placed her hands on her hips. At the sound of his full name, the little boy stopped mid roar and turned to look at his mother. "Didn't I tell you to eat your breakfast and get dressed?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"Then why didn't you do it?" she questioned him, raising an eyebrow at the boy, as Zack sat up, knowing that he was probably responsible as the distraction. Zack grimaced slightly since there was a good chance Trini would scold him when she was done with the toddler.

"I'm Tywanno and you told Tylew," the three and a half year old retorted at if it were the most obvious thing in the world. His face stayed serious the entire time, although Zack did snicker slightly, unable to keep a straight face. Trini fought the urge to laugh at her son. Instead she took a deep breath and rolled her eyes.

"You have until the count of five to get your bottom back in that seat and finish your breakfast," Trini told him, raising one eyebrow.

"Better do as she says, Ty," Zack told him, with a nod when the boy looked at him to contradict his mother. Zack knew better than to mess with a yellow ranger. Tyler pouted, but flopped onto his rear and slid off the bed, marching reluctantly back to the desk and his now soggy fruit loops. "Sorry Trini," Zack muttered. Trini rolled her eyes and let a small smile cross her face.

"I suppose this is better than the silence we had from him all evening yesterday," Trini stated, casting a look over her shoulder as she went to the mirror over the dresser where she'd placed her jewelry the night before.

"Think it'll come back today?" Zack asked her, and Trini nodded.

"Probably," she stated, putting in her earrings. She could see her friend in the mirror sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands clasped in front of him, his elbows resting on his knees. "He'll be fine around Connor and the others now that Connor found the route to his heart. And he's met Kim before, although I don't know if he'll remember her. But when everyone else arrives later, he's going to clam back up. I wish he'd outgrow it."

"He will," Zack told her. "If he's anything like either of his parents, this shyness can't last forever," Zack laughed. Trini smirked and nodded.

"What are you doing awake so early anyway?" Trini asked him, walking over to Tyler who offered her an empty bowl as proof he'd finished his breakfast. Trini nodded and kissed his head slightly, pointing to the pile of clothing she'd left on the edge of his bed for him. Tyler pouted slightly, but slid off the desk chair and went to do what she commanded.

"Trouble sleeping," Zack confessed. "Seeing Tommy like this brought back so many memories," he continued with a sigh. "I know he's the one who severed ties when he stopped answering letters and phone calls, but I could have stopped him. I could have made sure we remained friends. And I can't figure out why I didn't."

"Because we were tired. We'd fought for so long against Rita, and then in Switzerland we were fighting for peace," Trini stated, walking over and sitting down on the bed with Zack. "We didn't want to have to fight for friendship too. It was just easier to let it go. I mean, that's why I didn't fight for Jason at first."

"You're probably right," Zack replied with a nod. "Seeing him reminds me of our old friendship. I wish it hadn't frayed."

"It's never too late to fix it," she stated with a slight smile. "The others proved that. You know, of all of us, I never would have thought it would have been Kim who reunited with Tommy first. Not after the whole letter incident."

"It's kind of funny though," Zack laughed. "Not the Kim and Tommy part," he explained with a laugh when Trini frowned at him. "I mean Tommy regressing himself. This is what it takes to get us back in his life?"

"Jason did say it on the drive here. It's always one thing or another with him," Trini grinned. "But yeah; I'm a bit disappointed that this is what it takes to reunite us."

"Can't show that disappointment around Tommy right now though," Zack stated with a nod. He completely understood that feeling. "He's currently struggling with understanding how we could forgive him for being evil. If he thinks we can't forgive him for not being in our lives anymore," he stated, trailing off at the end.

"Yeah," Trini replied. "We can talk to him about it once we get him back to normal," Trini assured Zack.

"Talk?" Zack laughed. "I think Jason might beat the crap out of him," he informed his friend, and Trini shook her head, grinning. It wasn't that she didn't think he was right, more that she hoped her husband didn't try and kill him.

"The kids said Rocky already laid into him physically for it, so maybe Jason won't feel the need to," she replied and Zack gave her a look that said she was living in denial. "Ok," she laughed, "just promise you'll help keep him out of jail."

"Which one?" Zack replied simply, as he watched Trini walk over to help Tyler. His shorts had a button, and although the boy had gotten them on facing the correct direction, his fingers were not quite dexterous enough to succeed at buttoning them.

"Both if you don't mind," Trini replied from where she crouched in front of her son. "Good job," she told the boy. "Go get your shoes and maybe Uncle Zack will help you with the laces," she told him. Tyler grinned and raced to do as she said, grabbing his black sneakers with bright red laces and launching himself onto the bed beside the dark skinned man. Trini stood back up and busied herself with her purse, watching the two males in the room out of the corner of her eye. "Did you eat anything?" Trini asked Zack as he tied the laces on Tyler's left shoe.

"Figured we could grab a piece of fruit or something from downstairs. I'm not really hungry," he replied. Trini gave him a knowing look and a nod.

"Me either. I'm anxious to get over there. Think they're awake?" she replied, and Zack just shrugged his shoulders in response.

"You could call Jason and find out. After all, if he's not awake yet, he should be," Zack laughed and Trini grinned, before stepping toward the night stand to grab her phone from its charger while Zack finished tying the laces on Tyler's right shoe. The boy roared and sprung to his feet, wrestling the man against the bed, knowing his mom wouldn't get mad since he was fully dressed.

* * *

"I thought we said we were ok with being late?" Adam groaned as Aisha climbed out of the passenger seat of the minivan that Rocky was driving. He had his arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised as he stood with Tanya in their driveway with their bags. They both held insulated mugs of hot coffee, but the magical morning wake up drink hadn't begun to work on the former black ranger yet.

"Good morning to you, too," Aisha laughed at him. She rolled her eyes and chuckled at the irritated look he shot back at her. "It's already seven am. The sun is up. It's not like we dragged you out of bed at three in the morning," she added in with a smirk, referencing their last reunion in Reefside. They'd only dragging him on a seven hour road trip in the middle of the night once, and at that point he'd been more than willing to go along.

"Besides," Rocky commented as he climbed out of the car to begin shifting the bags in the trunk as Adam brought his and Tanya's over. "You can blame your niece. She woke us up at five in the morning, demanding to see her 'uncky ranger'," Rocky stated with a grin.

Adam peered over the third row of seats in the van where Katie's car seat was set up. She had a children's book in her hands and was flipping through the pages, pretending she could read. "Aww, Katie did you miss me that much?" he asked the little girl.

"Nope," Katie stated with a big grin that matched her father's. She shook her head no, and the twin braided pigtails she wore bounced back and forth. "Go see ovter uncky ranger!" the two and a half year old insisted. Adam sighed and shook his head, pulling back out of the trunk and loading in the last few bags.

"How is it that she's only known him for a few months and she already likes him better than me?" Adam pouted slightly.

"Falcon wins over frog any day," Rocky laughed at his best friend.

"And apes," Adam retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Oh no, my little monkey is a daddy's girl all the way," Rocky laughed. "Right Katie?"

"Time ta boogie wif ta beaw," Katie giggled in response and Adam snorted a laugh, when Rocky's face fell and he looked accusingly at his wife.

"You turned her on me?" Rocky pouted, looking Aisha directly in the eyes where she and Tanya were talking as the men finished loading the car.

"Yep," Aisha said with a grin and a nod. "You still have the boy," she added, as she climbed into the van and seated herself in the bucket seat that would give her the best access to the two children in the rear of the van. Tanya laughed and climbed in beside her while Luke took that moment to blow a raspberry at his father. Adam snickered and closed the trunk of the van before clapping his dumbfounded friend on the shoulder.

"Something tells me she's already gotten to him too," Adam told his friend with a laugh as he climbed into the passenger seat. Rocky glared at him.

"Just wait until it's your turn," he replied, getting into the driver's seat, adjusting his seat belt and pulling out of the driveway.

"His turn to what?" Tanya asked, frowning and looking back and forth between the two men in the front seat.

"He means when we have kids," Adam told her. "He's going to be waiting a while."

"Oh," Tanya giggled. "I don't know about that. I was thinking we could get started on the honeymoon," she added with a laugh. Adam's face paled. The wedding was coming up fast enough. Two more months and they'd be saying "I do". He wasn't exactly sure he was ready to add the title of father so quickly after becoming 'husband'. "Relax," Tanya stated with another giggle. "I was just kidding."

"You're real funny," Adam stated, rolling his eyes as the color returned to his cheeks. "A real riot," he added in and Tanya and Aisha broke down laughing. Rocky just grinned at him.

"Speaking of kids," he stated. "What are the odds all the ones in Reefside are still alive?"

"You mean the real ones, or former rangers who turn themselves back into kids?" Aisha asked her husband.

"Both," Adam and Rocky replied at the same time, eliciting another round of laughter in the car.

"Well, Kim hasn't called me yet," Aisha stated, "but that could be good or bad," she added in. She wasn't sure if she should be worried that Kim hadn't called ranting about the latest stupid thing that Tommy had done.

"You sure she knows?" Rocky asked, glancing at her in the rear view mirror. Aisha nodded.

"Definitely," Aisha stated. "They'll have told her as soon as she got home last night. There's no way they could have hidden it," she added in.

"You guys sure the reunion is still a good idea?" Adam asked from the front. "I can't see Kim being excited to host considering the current situation, and Tommy doesn't even know who we are," he added.

"Of course it's a good idea," Tanya laughed. "You said it yourself, Jason was handling things, which means he's probably already in Reefside, or at least on his way. We haven't seen him in years," she reminded them.

"He brought Trini and Zack with him," Adam informed them, getting strange looks. "Mishap with a communicator last night," he added in response to their silent questions.

"Right," Tanya laughed, rolling her eyes. "And you of course had to answer it?" Adam blushed slightly. "Let me guess, your zeonizers are in the suitcase?"

"Yours aren't?" he asked her, and Tanya just laughed in response. "Come on, tell me? Did you bring yours?"

"Maybe," she conceded, "but then again, maybe you're the only one having a hard time letting go."

"What is this, pick on the frog day? Rocky, back me up here," Adam pouted, and Rocky just laughed, shaking his head.

"Sorry frog boy," he laughed, "you're on your own."

"I hate you all," Adam retorted, crossing his arms over his chest as Rocky diverted the minivan onto the interstate.

* * *

Reviews are loved and appreciated as always. Hope you enjoyed. And no, I couldn't let Kim actually kill Connor. He's needed for later.


	7. Chapter 7

Happy its only been 5 days since the last update! LOL. There's a couple reasons I decided to post this today. Reason 1: The semester is over, I don't have anymore grading to do, which means a lot more time for writing. When I posted Chapter 6, 7 was complete, but unedited, and eight had 2 pages. As of now, chapter 7 went through major edits which added another 2 pages in length, chapter 8 was completed, and so was chapter 9. So I'm a bit further ahead than I'd hoped to be. Reason 2: Think of this as in honor of the release of the trailer for "The Order". And if you're seriously about to tell me you don't know what "The Order" is, go google "The Order Movie" and "Power Rangers" . Like seriously, go do that before you even read this. You will not regret it.

Oh, one last thing, I had a reviewer who I can't reply to ask about Tyler's name. His first name is simply because Jason insisted his name start with "Ty" as in "Tyrannosaurus". His middle name, William, is Trini's tribute to Billy. As for Katie and Luke, I just liked those names and that's what popped into my head when I was writing Chronology. If I need to use their middle names at any point we'll see if I come up with something creative. LOL.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy.

* * *

"Morning," Jason muttered as he entered the kitchen wearing the pair of pants Connor had given him and his shirt from the previous day, not entirely surprised to find Kimberly sitting at the small table absent mindedly stirring a spoon in a bowl of cereal with her right hand, while her left hand cradled her head. The bowl was mostly milk with a few soggy pieces of cereal left over. Her eyes were open, but Jason was pretty sure she wasn't seeing anything in particular at that moment. She still wore the black t-shirt from the night before, but she'd added a pair of hot pink sweat pants on underneath it. Her hair was wet and hung loose over her shoulders. She'd clearly taken a shower.

"Hey," she greeted him, looking up and giving him a small smile as he yawned. He held his cell phone in one hand. "Those pants are a little tight," she laughed slightly, pinching her fingers together and Jason grimaced. He hadn't been wearing them before they went to bed the night before, but she assumed he hadn't wanted to sleep uncomfortably in jeans. They'd been friends for so long, the joke was easy to make. Neither individual blushed, while Kimberly continued to wear a mocking expression.

"They're Connor's," Jason replied, chuckling slightly. "Didn't want to hurt his feelings by turning them down. And they're not that bad are they?" he laughed.

"Eh," Kimberly replied shrugging her shoulders and contorting her features into those of fake disgust. "That was nice of him though," Kim she added, as she brushed her hair out of her face, noticing Jason fighting a second yawn. "There's fresh coffee in the pot by the stove."

"Thanks; That would explain why it smelled so good in here," he stated, setting his phone on the table beside her, and walking over to the pot she had indicated. There were a few empty mugs beside it. Jason flipped one over and pulled the pot off the maker, and began to pour himself a cup, leaning back against the counter and crossing his feet at the ankles. He set the pot back down and looked up at her, one arm crossed over his chest as he took a sip from his mug. "You want some?" he asked her. Kimberly shook her head no enthusiastically, causing Jason to frown at her unexpected answer. She'd practically lived off the stuff when she'd come to visit him and Trini the previous year.

"No thanks," she explained, seeing his confusion. "My mind is going a mile a minute. I don't think adding caffeine would be the smartest idea at the moment," she added, clutching her head in her hands as she perched her elbows on the table.

"Still trying to wrap your head around the latest turn of events, huh?" he laughed, nodding his understanding, stepping away from the counter and falling into the chair beside her. Kim chuckled slightly and nodded in response, looking up and meeting his eyes with a slight sarcastic smile. He definitely knew her well.

"Latest in a long string of weird," she laughed. However, the word 'weird' could have been considered an understatement. "Seriously, after that whole mishap with Divatox, Jase, I had really begun to believe I was done. It was so quiet for a while."

"You and me both," Jason confirmed for her, laughing slightly as he thought back to the event she referenced. Apparently it was a habit of former rangers to down play events. Being kidnapped and turned evil, not to mention being tossed into a vat of lava, was not exactly a simple 'mishap'. "Trust me. That moon mission two years ago threw me through a loop." He paused as she nodded, and then laughed. "Guess once you have the power you're never really done with weird stuff. You just get breaks in between."

"Four months off was not enough," Kimberly told him, looking up and smirking.

"I heard what happened from the kids," Jason told her, and Kim nodded. "You're sure you're alright?"

"I was banged up for a while," she admitted when he gave her a disbelieving look.

"From the way Connor and his teammates described it, you were a bit more than banged up," Jason confronted her, taking another long sip of his coffee.

Kimberly sighed, mentally making a note to have a talk with a few particular teenagers about what information they decided to impart on her old friends, specifically ones as protective of her as Jason was. Still, she could see there was no way out except to tell the truth. "It was bad," Kim confirmed with a nod. She cupped the nearly empty bowl in her hands and cast her gaze into it instead of looking up and meeting Jason's eyes. "Billy said I was lucky to be alive."

"Do you remember any of it?" Jason asked her gently, and Kim shrugged in response. She thought back to that day, or what she remembered of it. She remembered fighting the rangers, and then Connor in his Battelizer. After that, all she really recalled was a massive explosion, fire, and pain. Lots of pain.

"Bits and pieces," she replied, looking up and meeting his worried gaze. She moved her hands from around her bowl to hug herself around the middle. "But honestly, I think, aside from that, we all came out of that one better off," she told him, and Jason nodded his understanding. She'd been able to reconnect with Tommy through it. Many of his friends had. Their family had gotten the chance to start to rebuild to include him again. And Jason did have to admit, the photos he'd seen of Kim throughout Tommy's house suggested she was happier than he'd seen her in a long time. Seeing her happy almost made him not want to beat the crap out of his former best friend. Almost, but not quite. When they got said individual back to his normal self, Jason planned on making sure Tommy knew exactly how he felt about his dropping off the face of the earth. "How does he always get himself into these things?" Kim asked Jason after a moment where they were both silent.

"I don't know," Jason admitted with a slight bit of amusement in his voice. He laughed slightly as well. He took a long drag off his coffee. "I suppose it's through the same means that you're always getting abducted. Morphing grid likes to play specific games. It always has. And it clearly has favorites."

"Well, I don't want to play anymore," she pouted and laughed, suddenly looking up at the sounds of footsteps approaching. She made eye contact with the teenage boy, clad in a pair of white sweat pants and that actually fit him quite well, and a slightly oversized black t-shirt, who chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. Kimberly wasn't surprised that Trent's clothing fit the teenage boy, or that Tommy actually looked good in white. It had been a while since she'd seen it on him. He, however, looked extremely uncomfortable.

"I don't want to play either," he stated, clearly having heard the last part of the conversation. From the sounds of Kim and Jason's conversation, he'd been the butt of the morphing grid's jokes quite a few times, and Tommy wasn't sure he was looking forward to actually experiencing that. Now that the sun was up, and Kimberly was fully clothed, he didn't feel quite as nervous around her. Granted, he might not have been so relaxed if he'd known the black t-shirt she wore was actually his.

"How'd you sleep?" Jason asked the boy, motioning for Tommy to come and join them at the table.

"Alright I guess," Tommy replied with a shrug. He avoided looking at Kimberly, as he blushed, remembering exactly what had happened the night before. "It's just really, really bizarre. You know what I mean?"

"Can't say I do, bro," Jason laughed, and Kimberly smiled sweetly at him, as he took a seat at the table. She reached forward pushed a clean bowl and box of cereal on the table towards him. "This is honestly one thing I've never experienced before."

"Thanks," Tommy muttered to Kim, picking up the box and pouring some of the contents into the bowl. He reached for the milk that was on the table and added a little of that as well. Jason took them both from him and poured himself a bowl as well. "It's that when I look at you guys, I feel really confused," Tommy replied, sighing and shaking his head. "It's not that I don't believe that it's really two thousand and four. It's just that my mind says we're supposed to be the same age," he added, with a blush, trying not to look at Kim. Jason was a whole lot easier to look at. Aside from an ability to grow facial hair, there wasn't a whole lot about him that disconcerted Tommy. Kim on the other hand had gone from teenage girl to grown up woman. He'd had a crush on her from the moment he saw her, but if she'd looked how she did now, he wasn't sure he would have had the courage to even utter one word to her.

"I guess that's probably the strangest part for you," Kimberly chuckled slight in response, and Tommy, forgetting himself, gave her an exasperated look. "Oh it's not that bad, you've had worse."

"How can you even say," Tommy began to argue with her, before he realized the very last part of her statement. "Wait, worse?" he asked, his brow furrowing and his eyes narrowing as he dropped the spoon that he'd been holding in one hand.

Kimberly smirked and nodded. "I assume you were present when Connor and the others were telling Jason what happened a few months ago?" she asked the boy. Tommy frowned, not fully understanding where her line of thinking was going, but he nodded in response. "They mentioned how several individuals got regressed?"

"Yeah," Tommy stated, drawing out the word. Jason looked curious as to where Kim was headed as well.

"Did they tell you who?" Kim asked her two former teammates, both who shook their heads in the negative. "Let's see, well, Connor, Kira, Trent, who you met yesterday," she told them, but mainly directing her words at Tommy. "Rocky and Aisha," she added in, ticking off on her fingers. "You'll meet them this afternoon. They're our age as well," she added, pointing at herself and Jason. "Your real age, I mean. And then, well, both versions of you," she finished, directing her comment at Tommy.

"Well, they did say I got younger," Tommy stated, frowning. "But that just means I've been through this before – multiple times," he argued. "How exactly is that worse?"

"Think about it. Especially the part that I know is making you most uncomfortable," she prompted him, leaning back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow. Tommy and Jason both frowned at her. "Twenty seven year old you regressing to a teenager in front of his teenage teammates, eh, not so bad. But seventeen year old you regressed into an eight year old," she told him, with a smirk. Tommy's mouth fell open. "You think you're uncomfortable in front of me now, knowing that when you grow up, we'll be boyfriend and girlfriend? How do you think you felt regressing into a child in front of your teenage girlfriend?"

"Bro," Jason told the gaping Tommy. "She's got a point. That sounds worse."

Tommy blinked a few times, trying to digest what she was saying. Being fifteen around a group of adult friends was bad. Sure he had a crush on Kim, and clearly, she knew that, but in his mind, they were only friends. But he couldn't imagine the embarrassment he'd have felt if he was suddenly an elementary schooler in front of Kimberly, the girl he currently had a crush on. He gulped, realizing she was right. It could definitely be worse for him. Still, as bad as it was for him, he had to wonder how all of this was for her. From what everyone had described, they were together in the future. He hadn't even taken a moment to consider how his current situation was affecting her. "I… I'm sorry for this," he told her, looking down at his bowl, blushing.

"It's not your fault, technically," she laughed. Seeing him like this reminded her exactly why she had fallen for him in the first place. The Tommy she'd found four months earlier was fully grown and definitely her hero, but this boy was adorable. She definitely understood why her fifteen year old self had gravitated towards him immediately.

"Thanks," he told her, with a tiny smile.

"Don't thank me just yet," she smirked. "When we get you back to your real self, you and I are going to be having a long conversation about just how you got yourself into this mess."

"Ouch," Jason laughed. "Wouldn't want to be in your shoes," he added to the teenager who just smiled and shook his head.

"If that's the case," Tommy laughed, "why do I have the feeling my older self would try to prolong this as much as possible?"

"Cause no one wants a lecture from Kimberly," a forth voice joined them, and Kimberly looked up from Tommy to glare at Connor who was also still dressed in the sweat pants he'd gone to sleep in. The former ranger was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, but hadn't quite entered yet. "Permission to enter?" the teenager asked her, slightly serious, but mostly joking.

"Granted," Kimberly told him, shaking her head. "I've decided to let you live," she told him. "For now."

"Well, that's one," Connor laughed. "I'm pretty sure I only lived this long because Kira figured you'd take care of it," he told her, as he entered the kitchen and leaned against the counter. "Can I have some coffee?"

"A little," Kim replied. "And why would Kira want you dead now? What else could you have done in one day?" She raised her eyebrow at the recent high school graduate. Getting himself in trouble with either her or Kira happened to be one of Connor's specialties, but still, it wasn't often that he managed to get himself in trouble with both of them in different ways in only a span of twenty four hours.

"I'd rather not say," Connor stated, pouring himself a small mug of coffee, before he took the last of the four seats at the kitchen table. Jason snickered, recalling exactly why the most recent yellow ranger wanted her former leader dead. Kimberly frowned at both of them, opening her mouth to press the issue further.

"Can I have some?" Tommy suddenly asked indicating the mug the older teenager was holding. Both Jason and Kimberly exchanged surprised looks before turning to him and shaking their heads no. "But you let him?" Tommy protested, pointing at Connor who looked slightly dumbfounded.

"Connor's eighteen. Which means he's actually an adult," Kimberly reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

"Technically, so am I," Tommy protested, yawning slightly, as he continued to eat the bowl of cereal he'd poured.

"Nice try," Jason laughed at the boy. "You're physically and mentally a fifteen year old. You do not need coffee."

"But I'm tired. It'll help wake me up," Tommy whinned, yawning.

"Let me phrase it this way," Jason stated. "We," he added, pointing at Kim and himself, "do not need you to have any coffee," he finished, as Kim laughed.

"Please?" Tommy pleaded with an innocent look in his eyes. It wasn't that he really wanted the coffee. He just didn't want to be treated like a little kid by two people that his mind was convinced were actually his age. "I'll tell you why Kira wants to kill Connor," he directed at Kim.

"You little brat," Connor growled, lunging towards him. Tommy leapt from his chair, evading Connor's grasp. Kim and Jason both laughed at the older teenager's response, and their regressed friend's antics. Kim couldn't help but picture her former teammate challenging the other guys to basketball contests or putting fake spiders on Zack's shoulders. Now that he was beginning to relax, they were seeing his true personality come out. He'd always been a bit playful.

"I'm sure I can find out from Kira later," Kimberly told Tommy, attempting to keep a straight face and placing her hand on Connor's shoulder to press him back into his chair. "In the meantime," she continued, "I left a box on our bed," she added, watching Tommy's face falter for a moment as he blushed at the mention of sharing a bed with Kimberly. She sighed and shook her head. "My bed then. It's for you."

"What's in it?" Tommy asked, frowning, suspiciously, coffee officially forgotten.

"Why don't you go find out?" Kim suggested. Tommy watched her for a moment, debating whether he should push back or not. Beside her, Connor was glaring at him slightly, irritated that Tommy had tried to use him to get what he wanted. Jason was frowning at Kimberly, apparently also wanting to know what was in the box. After a few moments of silence, Kim raised her eyebrow at the regressed ranger who sighed and walked off to do as she suggested. Kim turned her attention back to Jason and Connor. "I take it you were on the phone with Trini this morning?" she asked Jason, disregarding the fact that Connor was still glaring after Tommy.

Jason nodded, wrapping his fingers around the cell phone he'd placed on the table when he'd first entered the kitchen. "She and Zack are on their way over with Ty."

"Great," Kim replied. "I can't wait to see them," she added in, turning to the teenager. "How about you?" she asked. "Did you speak to the others?" Connor didn't reply immediately. He kept glaring in the direction his regressed mentor had wandered off towards. "Hello? Anybody home?" Kimberly asked, leaning forward and waving her hand in front of Connor's gaze. The teenager blinked a few times and then turned to look at her.

"Is he really going to behave like the annoying kid brother I never wanted?" Connor asked, completely missing Kim's earlier question. Jason laughed and Kimberly smirked.

"Yeah," she told the dino thunder red ranger. "Probably," she added, trying not to laugh at the thought. "Anyway, the others?"

"Not yet. Kira already wants me dead. Figured I should let her sleep in a bit," he stated. "But I'll call them now. Tell them to start heading over. What's the plan for the day?"

"Same as it was before this whole thing happened," Kim stated, shaking her head. ""There's nothing we can really do until Haley calls back or Billy gets here. Haley didn't leave Tommy the name of the hotel she was staying at. Or if she did," she paused, "he lost it somewhere in the house, and he clearly isn't going to be able to remember. The others will be here around two. You four are going to help clean the house today," she reminded him, and Connor groaned. He'd sort of forgotten about that part. "And now, you've got Tommy to help."

"I guess that's something," Connor laughed slightly, fishing in his pocket for his phone, before he headed down the hall in the same direction Tommy head gone to start getting ready.

"You're cruel," Jason told Kim. She smirked as she watched him take another slow sip of his coffee.

"I know," she replied, standing and stretching. She grabbed her bowl and Tommy's and took them to the sink to begin washing them. "But at least I didn't kill him. I take it part of the plan last night was for you to act as body guard."

"Yeah well," Jason laughed. "You see how well our plan went over," he told her, and Kim just shook her head, as Jason sipped his coffee mug. "You sure you don't want some?" he offered, holding his mug up to her. Kimberly sighed and shook her head no, opening her mouth to reply when she was interrupted.

"Um, Kim?" Tommy's voice called to her. Jason and Kimberly looked up to see him peering around the edge of the wall, his body mostly hidden. He slowly stepped into the kitchen, with a small, hesitant smile on his face. "Thanks for this," he told her. "I feel a bit more relaxed. So Thanks. It was really nice of you." he muttered.

No longer was Tommy dressed in the borrowed clothing he'd worn to bed. Instead he had on a pair green jean shorts that weren't baggy. He also wore a deep forest green button down collared shirt that was missing its sleeves. Around his neck was a black leather cord necklace with a yin-yang symbol.

"Glad you like it. All I did was pull the box out of storage. You can thank yourself for being so nostalgic that you kept some stuff," Kimberly laughed at him, shaking her head. Tommy smiled in response, nodding.

"Bro, it's just clothing," Jason poked fun at the boy, and Tommy blushed in response.

"Give him a break," Kimberly stated with a grin, hitting Jason lightly with a dish towel. "You know well and good you feel more comfortable wearing red or black," she added and Jason nodded. "How would you feel if you were forced to wear pink instead?"

"Kim," Jason laughed. "There are very few people who can pull off pink."

"That's why it's an elite group," she laughed.

"He looks more like himself this way anyway," Jason informed them both, shaking his head slightly.

"Hey Tommy!" Connor's voice called from the back of the house. "Kim says you have to help clean," he called. Tommy groaned and looked at Kimberly who smirked and nodded.

"But, but," he began, pouting slightly. "You said I'm an adult? Why do I have to do chores?"

"Well, for one," Kimberly laughed, leaning back against the sink as Connor walked into the kitchen. "Think of it as your punishment for reverting yourself back into a child."

"No fair," Tommy stated. "I don't even remember doing that. Besides, I'm a teenager, not a child!" he stressed at the end.

"Which is exactly point number two," Jason told him. "We already told you – fifteen in mind and body. Therefore," he laughed. "You will be treated like a fifteen year old."

"Come on dude," Connor laughed at the boy, placing both of his hands on Tommy's shoulders and steering him out of the kitchen. "We might as well get started while we wait on the others to get here and help," he added in, giving Kim a playful grin as they left the room. Kimberly rolled her eyes and shook her head at them.

"I take it back," Tommy muttered, trudging out of the kitchen with Connor. "You are definitely not nice."

Kimberly and Jason laughed at their former teammate's expense. As strange as it was, it was just too comical not to laugh at. Their laughter was only interrupted by the doorbell. Kimberly, giggling still at the fact that Tommy had essentially ensured his own fate for the day, wandered out of the kitchen and into the foyer to grab the door, Jason behind her, his coffee mug still clutched in his hand.

"Trini!" She exclaimed, latching onto one of her best friends the moment she opened the door. Trini released the hand of the small boy behind her and wrapped her friend in a one armed hug. She carried a shopping bag in the other.

"You're in a better mood than I was expecting," the Asian woman laughed, as the two women clung to each other, head's resting on one another's shoulders. Kim clearly wasn't surprised to see her, but was just as happy as if it had been a surprise. For a few moments, she could forget the shrunken version of her boyfriend who was running somewhere around the house with Connor, hopefully cleaning.

"Tommy's been quite entertaining," Jason replied to his wife as Zack scooped up the bewildered Tyler and carried him into the house. Jason accepted the small boy from his friend as Trini released Kim and allowed Zack to move in for a hug.

"The communicator thing was your fault, huh?" Kimberly asked him, grinning from ear to ear, as she wrapped her arms around his waist. Zack grinned and nodded.

"Sorry about that," he laughed, squeezing her tightly and lifting her slightly off the ground. He set her back down, still keeping her wrapped in his arms. He looked up from her to Jason and shook his head. "Man, your pants are too tight," he stated, matter of factly.

"Yeah, yeah," Jason stated, trading Tyler and his coffee mug for the bag that Trini carried. He kissed her cheek lightly and disappeared down the hall to the spare bedroom.

"So," Trini asked as soon as he was gone, sipping from Jason's left over coffee. "Tommy's still alive then?" she added. Kimberly nodded, turning and leaning back against Zack's chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, both individuals just happy to see one another. It had been way too long. At least five years, if not more. Kim was pretty sure that the last time she'd seen him was Jason and Trini's wedding. Neither one needed any words to describe how they felt about seeing one another.

"I didn't have the heart to kill him," she replied with a slight smirk.

"He's a bit adorable, isn't he," Trini giggled.

"You both mean pathetic, don't you?" Zack joked, with a huge grin on his face. Kimberly elbowed him lightly in the stomach, breaking out of his hug and giggling. "How about Connor? You let him live too?"

"I really shouldn't have," Kim replied with shaking her head with a little bit of laughter, "but yes. Although, between you and me, I can't promise they're both going to survive this."

"Why not?" Zack laughed, as Kim led the way into the living room. She fell into the arm chair, while Trini took a seat on the couch, Tyler perched on her lap. Zack perched himself on the back of the armchair.

"They've been going at it like brothers all morning," Kimberly rolled her eyes and snorted a bit. Trini's eyes widened in surprise, and Zack chuckled slightly.

As if on cue, Connor's voice reached them from down the hall. "Kim!" he shouted. "Tell Tommy it's his job to clean the toilet bowl! He's the one who lives here!" the teenager complained.

"No way! Just because you're older doesn't mean you get to make the rules!" Tommy's voice replied back.

"You're supposed to be teenagers! Not toddlers!" Kimberly shouted back down the hall, sighing as Zack began laughing harder, nearly doubling over at the waist.

"I don't know Kim," Trini giggled. "Tyler's a toddler and he seems more well behaved than they do," she added in. "I'd say they're behaving more like infants."

"Wonderful," Kimberly muttered, shaking her head. "Just what I need."

* * *

Jason wandered into the living room and observed the scene in front of him. Kira and Trent were on the love seat. The former yellow ranger leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, with a bottle of water between her hands. Her boyfriend leaned backwards, arms open behind him, knees spread apart and feet planted firmly on the ground. In one hand he held a rag, and in the other, a can of pledge. Ethan leaned again the entranceway to the kitchen, twirling a bottle of 409 multipurpose cleaner on his finger. Behind him, back towards the bedrooms, Jason could hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner running. Just beyond the living room, outside on the patio, he could see Kimberly and Trini sitting and talking, while Tyler played with his dinosaur toys in the grass. They'd been outside for the last few hours, citing the headaches that they each were beginning to get from all of the bickering. At that point, Kim had put Jason in charge of the cleaning brigade. The theory was that the two teenagers in question might actually listen to him, since he was technically this version of Tommy's leader, and Connor seemed to revere him as some type of legend, after Kira was unable to regain control over them (not for lack of trying).

Zack walked into the living room behind Jason, chuckling and fell into the arm chair, looking up in amusement at his friend and former leader. Jason frowned at him.

"What happened now?" he asked Zack, who shook his head, chuckling still. When the shouting had started a few minutes before, Jason had sent the former black ranger to investigate and hopefully stop any possible bloodshed.

"Tommy vacuumed, Connor then called him stupid for not waiting until he'd dusted first, proceeded to begin dusting, and Tommy ran over his foot with the vacuum. He swears it was an accident, but I have my suspicions," Zack laughed. Ethan cracked a smile, while Kira groaned and Trent rolled his eyes.

"Those two are driving me nuts," Kira stated.

"You're not the only one," Jason told her, smacking his hand to his forehead in response to what Zack told him. "What are they doing now?"

"Tommy's finishing the vacuuming," Zack replied. "And Connor is double checking that the bathroom is clean."

"It's clean," Trent stated. "I made sure of it," he added with a questioning frown towards Zack.

"I know, it was just that there's no carpeting in the bathroom. Tommy has no reason to go in there with Connor," he stated, stressing the word with.

"Good idea," Jason laughed, falling onto the sofa. Ethan pushed himself off the wall and walked over to join them.

"So are we done?" the former blue ranger asked the rest of the group. Jason looked around and nodded.

"Just about," he confirmed, stretching his arms up above his head as the vacuum clearer stopped and the two missing teenagers entered the living room. Tommy fell into the third seat on the sofa near Ethan, while Connor perched himself on the armrest of the loveseat beside Kira. "You two finished?"

"With the chores?" Connor asked. Jason glared at him in response with his eyebrow slightly raised. The red clad teenager sighed. "Sorry," he muttered. "I'll try harder."

"And you?" Jason asked Tommy, who blushed and nodded, looking down at his feet.

"Ok," Connor stated, "so what's left?"

"Nothing except taking out the trash," Trent replied, nodding to several black garbage bags tied up beside the entrance way. Connor looked over at Tommy and went to open his mouth, a smirk across his lips.

"Oh for the love of god," Kira stated, sensing what was about to come out of Connor's mouth. Not even a second before, he'd promised to start behaving. Apparently, he couldn't resist goading Tommy. "I'll do it," she added, tossing her bottle of water at Trent, who caught it easily. She pushed herself out of her seat, as Connor quickly fell into it and grabbed the trash bags, waving Jason off when she heard him state "thanks Kira".

Shutting the door to the house behind her, Kira let out a sigh of relief. Connor was having too much fun picking on Tommy due to his regression. In a way, she didn't blame him. Tommy always had one up on the four of them, and Connor saw this as a chance to have a bit of fun. The problem was, Tommy didn't have the mental capacity to maturely deflect Connor's ribbing, nor did he know the teenager well enough to know he was just joking around and didn't mean anything by it. So the younger teenager had fallen into the habit of defending himself the only way he knew how – retaliation. There was a miniature war taking place inside and Kira was glad to get away from it for a bit.

She had just put the bags in the metal trashcan when she heard the sound of tires on the gravel in the driveway. She looked up and grinned at the sight of the familiar minivan and waved, before crossing her arms over her chest as she waited. The vehicle came to a stop and two men climbed out of the front seats.

"Hey Kira!" Adam called out with a wave, while Rocky went around to the back to get the luggage, stopping briefly to slide open the driver's side back door. Tanya slide the passenger side one open. "Where's everyone else?" He stretched and proceeded to follow Rocky.

"Kim and Trini are out back," Kira replied. "Everyone else is in the living room."

"How's it going?" Tanya asked, turning her back to help release the giggling toddler from her car seat after stretching.

"When they're not trying to kill each other?" Kira chuckled, "not too badly."

"Who's trying to kill each other?" Aisha asked, emerging from the van, Katie's hand grasped in her own. The moment Katie saw the teenager, her face lit up and she pulled free of Aisha, jumping out of the car and racing toward her.

"Kewa! Kewa! Kewa!" she shouted and giggled as she ran forward. Kira laughed and scooped the girl into her arms when she reached her.

"Hi Katie," Kira laughed, hugging the small girl to her chest. "Connor and Tommy won't stop bickering," she told the older group. "When it's not driving you nuts," she continued, "it can be kind of funny."

"Sounds like a blast," Aisha stated, rolling her eyes and walking over to Kira and Katie, Luke's baby seat clutched in her hands, Tanya beside her. The infant was sound asleep inside it. "It's great to see you," she added, wrapping the teenager in a one armed hug. Kira shifted Katie to her him and hugged Aisha back. "Katie," Aisha said, extending her free arm to the child when she and Kira released their hug, "we don't run away from mommy, ok?"

"K," the little girl muttered, but instead of making a move to return to Aisha, she laid her head on Kira's shoulder and snuggled against her.

"It's alright Aisha," Kira laughed. "I missed her too," she added in when Tanya moved in for her hug as well.

"How about me?" Adam laughed, carrying a small bag that held everything they might need for a little. Rocky had one similar over his shoulder, as well as Luke's diaper bag.

"You, I could do without, frog boy," Kira laughed.

"Hey!" he stated, throwing an arm over her shoulder. "Since when do you get to call me frog boy?"

"I don't know," Kira replied, while Rocky snickered. "We've been friends for so long, it just felt natural," she snorted.

"Four months is not a long time," Adam protested, with a slight grin.

"I've know you since you were seventeen," Kira reminded him, and Adam blinked a few times, while Tanya, Aisha, and Rocky started laughing.

"Ugh," Adam groaned, shaking his head. "Yellow rangers are going to be the death of me," he stated.

"Speaking of rangers," Tanya stated, elbowing Adam in the stomach lightly when he released Kira. "How are you all holding up after the whole power loss thing?"

"Good days and bad," Kira admitted. "Sometimes we all miss it at the same time, and so it's easy to talk to each other; but other times I'll miss it, but the guys won't, and then it's like you're on your own," she stated with a shrug. Rocky took that moment to pull her into a hug.

"I know you don't want to hear it," he stated, "but it does get easier."

"I know. Dr. O and Kim promised the same thing," Kira stated, sighing and shifting her face back into a grin. "Enough of this; let's go inside and introduce you to Tommy."

"Oh right," Rocky laughed. "He doesn't even know who we are at the moment. This should be interesting," he added, following Kira up the front porch steps and into the house.

"Interesting is not exactly how I would think to describe it," Aisha laughed, following the rest of the group.

"Hey guys," Kira called into the living room. "Look who I found!"

* * *

Of course I was going to drag out reuniting everyone with Tommy, again. LOL. Next chapter though starts the full reunion, and the fun of explaining who everyone actually is. So, hope you all enjoyed. Please take a moment to review. If you're new to the fic, or this is the first time you're reading the Author note, as long as there's a means of replying, I always reply back to every review, and I answer questions fully and honestly as long as they won't ruin the plot.

Thanks guys,

Fateless


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 10 isn't fully written yet, but it will be by the end of the day. Also, you'll be really glad to know that apparently every time I go back through to edit a chapter, 2-3 pages get added. Originally chapter 8 was just under 6,000 words, its now 7,611. And I couldn't wait for you all to start reading the interactions between the rangers. There are currently thirteen of them in the house, nine of which are Zordon's original twelve. I'm really looking forward to writing the interactions in the coming chapters between different combinations of the group, but this is a good start to it.

If you haven't checked out The Order yet, you definitely should.

Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Kira led the way into the house, carrying Katie on her hip. Rocky had grabbed the baby carrier from Aisha, and let the rest of the group go ahead of him. "Hey guys, looks what I found outside? Can we keep them?" Kira stated, as she reached the living room. Katie's eyes fell on Trent and Connor on the love seat.

"Connew!" Katie called out, squirming in Kira's arms. The former yellow ranger teen put the toddler on the floor. The moment Katie's feet touched the ground, she ran and launched herself onto Connor's lap, landing on him, on her knees.

"Ooof," Connor grunted as her entire weight landed on him unexpectedly. "Hey Katie! How've you been?" he laughed, as the girl put one leg on both sides of his lap and giggled, and clapped her hands, expressing how excited she was to see him.

"Good!" the toddler giggled out, hugging him tightly. Connor hugged her back with one arm and pushed himself off the sofa with the other. Ethan and Trent mirroring his actions, except for the hugging of a toddler part. Connor shifted Katie into his arms, and lifted her over his head, settling the toddler on his shoulders, leaving both of his arms free to hug the new comers in greeting.

"I don't know if Kim will let you keep all of them, Kira," Jason laughed, standing up and approaching Rocky with a grin on his face. The two former red rangers grasped hands and pulled one another into hugs. "Some of them make more of a mess than the others and I'm not sure they're all house broken," he added in. Beside him, Zack had moved to hug Adam in a similar fashion.

"Ha ha, very funny," Rocky replied, rolling his eyes as he and Jason released one another, huge grins on both their faces. "Aisha," he called over his shoulder at his wife who was greeting Connor at that moment. "Jason just insulted you." She glared at him in response and Rocky just gulped, but the grin on his face never wavered.

"And I thought it was only Connor who had a death wish," Trent laughed as he released his hug with Tanya, who shook her head, chuckling. The entire living room had become an area of greetings and laughter.

"Trent," Adam informed him, "you should know by now that having a death wish is a red ranger trait. They just can't help themselves."

"Good point," Ethan laughed.

"Not true," Jason retorted, as everyone began to rotate through greeting other individuals that they hadn't seen in years. "I, for one, definitely do not have a death wish."

"Don't lie," Zack told his friend. "You have definitely had your share of moments. I recall that one time in Switzerland when we were playing strip poker," he added in.

"Strip poker?" Tanya laughed, raising her eyebrow at her former teammate.

"Zack," Jason groaned, "you swore you'd never bring that up again," he added with a laugh. Zack chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "It's a long story," Jason stated. "One I'd like to keep buried."

"Fair enough," Adam laughed in response, and Jason nodded. "We've all got our share of those."

"Oh, you mean the time you showered in the women's locker room?" Ethan teased, and Adam gaped at him, clearly feeling betrayed by one of the only rangers in the room that had been present during that debacle that he thought he could trust. "Cause we already told them about that."

"Harsh," Connor laughed, bouncing Katie on his shoulder's slightly. He gave Adam a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"I take back anything positive I've ever said about you four," Adam stated, wearing an expression of false hurt. "You all turned out to be horrible evil individuals."

"It's the power," Trent told him. "It drove us all nearly as insane as you guys." Beside him, Katie on Connor's shoulders was adamantly reaching down towards him.

"Well," Zack laughed, "Insanity does seem to be a former ranger trait," he laughed. "As long as you don't get arrested as well, you're doing fine."

"We'll keep that in mind," Kira giggled in response. "Insanity good, imprisoned bad. Shouldn't be too hard to follow that rule."

"This your boy?" Jason asked Rocky, pointing at the tiny infant in the baby carrier that Rocky had set down beside him. Rocky nodded, grinning. "He's good looking. Must take after his mother."

"Absolutely," Rocky confirmed with a smile and nod. "I assume yours does as well? Where's is he by the way?" he asked his fellow former red ranger in response.

"Out back with his mom," Jason replied, his eyes scanning the room for a moment. "Speaking of out back; Kira? Want to go tell Kim and Trini that the others are here?"

"Sure thing," Kira replied with a nod. She brushed her hair off of her shoulder. "Katie want to come with me to get Aunt Kim?" she asked the toddler who shook her head vehemently in the negative. She'd crawled off Connor and was currently hanging on Trent's back, her hands clasped around his neck, giggling as he swayed her back and forth.

"Apparently she's too preoccupied having her human playground equipment back," Aisha laughed at her daughter's response. "I'll come with," she told the younger yellow.

"Me too," Tanya added in, breaking the greeting hug she'd been giving to Jason, "I need a break from all the testosterone." Kira nodded, a smile grin on her lips as she led the two older women out through the back door and onto the patio. Kim and Trini's squeals of delight reached all of the former male rangers inside.

"So how was the drive from Angel Grove?" Ethan asked Rocky and Adam as Trent managed to pry Katie off his neck. He flipped her over his head and handed the giggling girl over to Ethan, who bounced her a few times listening to her chant his name and giggle some more.

"Not bad," Rocky replied, watching his daughter excitedly giggling as the three dino thunder boys passed her around. He and Aisha were trying to break her of her habit of always wanting to be held, and this was slightly counterproductive. Although, he had to admit, Adam wasn't much of a help with it back at home either. "You're spoiling her," he told the teenagers, who shrugged.

"Jason's kid is too quiet," Connor laughed, taking Katie back from Ethan and holding her upside down by the ankles. "Katie's more fun," he added in.

"I'd protest," Jason chuckled, "but unfortunately it's true," he added in, seeing Adam and Rocky wearing questioning expressions. "Ty's going through a bit of a shy phase."

"A bit is an understatement," Zack snorted. "Your kid is practically unconscious around new people. Although we did discover last night," he stated, stage whispering to Adam and Rocky, "the key to getting him to open up is to tell him that the T-rex is the best dinosaur in the world."

"Well of course it is," Rocky stated, high fiving Jason.

"Ha. Yeah right," Adam laughed. "Dream on."

"Dude, you are so outnumbered on this one," Connor laughed. "It's four on two." He bounced Katie up and down a few times in his arms, causing the little girl to screech with laughter.

"Four?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrow in question, he looked at Trent and Ethan, both who held up their hands and shook their heads, backing away. Connor did not have their votes.

"Yeah, Jason, Rocky, myself, and Tyler," Connor laughed.

"I don't think those who aren't old enough to drink alcohol should get a vote," Zack replied, shaking his head at the teenager.

"And I say as long as they can drive the zord, their vote should count," Rocky stated, chuckling.

"Well, that still takes out Tyler's vote," Zack retorted.

"Man," Jason laughed. "I'm pretty sure Ty could drive one better than you can."

"Hey!" Zack retorted, mock anger on his face. "I only crashed the Mastodon once!"

"Yeah," Jason laughed. "And Zordon was pissed."

"You did what?" Adam stated, "When did this happen?"

"Hey guys!" Kim's voice called out as she and the other women made their way back into the living room. She went right to Rocky and Adam, hugging them each in turn. Behind her, Trini followed, carrying Tyler, who had his face buried in her neck. He'd clung to her the moment Kira had brought Aisha and Tanya out into the back yard. Zack gave Adam and Rocky looks that stated 'I told you so' in reference to the boy.

"Hey Kim," Rocky replied, opening his arms to her for a hug. Trini went to Adam and gave him a hug as well, before they rotated.

"When did what happen?" Kim asked the guys as everyone exchanged greetings again.

"Did you know that Zack crashed the Mastadon?" Rocky asked Kim and Trini. Both girls exchanged looks, frowned and then turned to glare at Zack, and Jason, who apparently was in on it.

"Man," Zack laughed. "I thought we agreed that some stories remained untold."

"You brought up the strip poker game," Jason stated with a shrug. "Fair is fair."

"Strip poker?" Trini stated, her face blank for a moment.

"Yeah, Trini," Zack laughed, tossing his arm over her shoulder. "You remember, that was the night when," he began. Trini instantly blushed red and elbowed Zack in the gut. Rather than continue his statement, Zack doubled over in pain. "Jase, man, your wife hit me," he managed to squeak out through grimaces.

"You deserved it," Jason responded, laughing and wrapping his arm around Trini's shoulder. He kissed her lightly on the cheek, ignoring the glare she was giving him. She had a feeling it was his fault that said game of strip poker was being brought up. She blushed again slightly when she realized Kim was watching her, mouthing the words 'strip poker' over and over again. She shrugged slightly.

"Ok then," Kim laughed, shaking her head. Apparently utter chaos took place when you put thirteen former power rangers in one room. Even during the time travel incident they'd only maxed out at eleven. And they were still missing one. She had to wonder if fourteen would be their tipping point. "So how was the drive from Angel Grove?" she asked.

"It was a bit boring," Adam confirmed. "Katie made a game out of pointing out all the cows she saw and 'mooing' each time," he continued, shooting a glare at Rocky. "There were a lot of them." Apparently this was the child's father's fault.

Aisha laughed and nodded her agreement. "Definitely nothing like the excitement you've all been dealing with here," she stated.

"Speaking of excitement," Rocky stated, looking around the room, his eyes searching for the one person he assumed was present but hadn't spoken. His eyes fell on the only individual in the room still sitting.

The moment Adam, Tanya, Rocky, and Aisha had entered the room, he'd cast his gaze to the floor feeling entirely self-conscious. He knew that from what he'd been told, that these individuals would know who he was despite the fact that he had no idea who they were. He knew that they'd been planning a reunion with an adult version of himself, someone he didn't remember being. And he knew that Rocky and Adam had already seen him. The entire thing was more than a little embarrassing. Realizing that the commotion had finally stopped and everyone was apparently staring at him, he reluctantly looked up, meeting eye contact with the second man in the room dressed in red.

The teen's facial expression hid his anxiety, but some of it came through in his eyes as they darted from one individual to the next. He watched the group in stunned silence. For several moments, not one said anything. The only sounds were breathing, a quiet ticking of a clock somewhere, and Katie whispering "Connew" trying to get the teenager who was holding her to pay attention.

Suddenly, Rocky burst out laughing, clutching his stomach with both of his hands, tears rolling down his face. At his laughter, Adam, Aisha, and Tanya couldn't keep from grinning as well, which caused everyone else to smirk as well. "Oh man," Rocky laughed. "Seeing in through the video chat was one thing, but in person; this is too hilarious. Oh how the mighty falcon has fallen. Our fearless leader is pint sized."

Tommy blushed a deep shade of red in response and cast his gaze back down to his feet. Jason started snickering when he heard the teenager whisper something about his Dragonzord. He was pretty sure the boy was wishing bodily harm on the hysterical red ranger, or that he was anywhere else on earth at that moment.

"Rocky," Adam scolded his best friend, although he was fighting the urge to laugh as well. "He doesn't even know who you are, let alone what you're talking about." He paused for a minute and grinned. "Besides, that's not a falcon. He's barely a hatchling," he stated, before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

"Are you two done picking on him yet?" Aisha asked her two best friends who were struggling to get themselves under control. "It's not exactly entirely his fault that this happened," she stated, looking at Connor. The teenager blushed and tucked his head lower into his shoulders.

"We'll try harder, Aisha," Rocky stated, through laughter, "but we make no promises," he added, and Adam nodded, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

"Won't matter," Trent stated, grinning. "It's not like Connor will leave him alone."

"It's not my fault he's an easy target," Connor laughed in response.

"Actually," Kira stated, seeing Tommy glare at Connor. "It kind of is. Soccer ball, remember?"

"I was trying to forget that," Kimberly told the teenagers, shaking her head, and placing her hand over her eyes.

"Unkey Ranger?" Katie's voice interrupted everyone from her vantage point in Connor's arms. She wriggled herself loose, sliding to the floor, and walked up to Tommy, stopping about a foot away from the teenager, and looking up at his face, a slight questioning frown on her face as she waited for his response.

Tommy panicked, his mask faltering as he looked up from the toddler to the adults in the room. Most wore worried expressions. In all of the commotion, they hadn't really thought about how Katie would react to the change. She'd been excited about coming to see Tommy, and suddenly the version of him that she knew wasn't there. Clearly she recognized him slightly, but even she could tell something was wrong. Aisha held her breath, waiting for the tantrum she figured would come when Tommy failed to recognize the girl.

At nearly the same moment, Connor took pity on the teenage version of his mentor and made eye contact with him over Katie's head. He mouthed the small girl's name and pointed at her. Tommy gave a tiny nod of appreciation and let a hesitant smile form on his face. Confused, nervous, and slightly terrified, he may have been. But under no circumstances, at any age, would Tommy want to make a child cry. He knew this girl expected him to know who she was, and he hadn't wanted to disappoint her.

"Hi Katie," he told her, and the child, who'd looked to be on the verge of tears for a moment, stepped closer to him, tilting her head to examine him closer. She got up on her tippy toes, and frowned for a moment, before lowering herself back down. She turned away from Tommy and looked back at both of her parents.

"Unkey Ranger gots widdel," she stated matter of factly.

Rocky and Adam's laughter immediately resumed, although this time, Jason and Zack joined in at Tommy's expense. The teen even chuckled nervously, and ran his hand across the back of his neck.

"That he did, Katie," Aisha said, trying to contain her own laughter, with her hand over her mouth.

"Why?" Katie asked her mother, who paused, looking over at Tommy and shaking her head.

"Uncle Tommy was playing with something he shouldn't have been," Kimberly stated, kneeling down beside Katie so that she was eye level with the toddler. Katie put her finger to her lip as if she was thinking and looked back and forth between Kim and Tommy.

"Unkey Ranger bad?" she questioned, which just served to renew the laughter coming from the four grown men in the room. Tommy shot them all a glare, despite not recognizing two of them. Trini and Aisha each slapped their husbands gently, while Tanya just snickered and shook her head at Adam.

"Sorta, it was an accident," Kim conceded to the child.

Katie looked away from Kim and back at Tommy, studying at him for a moment before she cast her gaze to the floor. "Aksdint," Katie muttered to herself, nodding. She then threw her gaze at Rocky, glaring at him.

"No waft, Daddy Ranger," she scolded him, wagging her finger at him and marching towards him. Rocky instantly stopped laughing, peering down at the tiny girl scolding him. He blinked a few times and opened his mouth to respond.

"That's not Daddy Wangew," a very small defiant voice spoke up. Tyler wriggled himself out of Trini's grasp. She released him, surprised that he'd actually decided to say something with so many new people present. Katie, realizing she was being spoken to, turned her attention away from her father and onto the other child (save her baby brother) present in the room. "That's Daddy Wangew," Tyler informed Katie, pointing over his shoulder at his own father.

"Nuh uh," Katie argued, frowning and putting both hands on her hips. Aside from her lighter skin and hair, she very closely resembled her mother when she was angry.

"Yeah huh," Tyler defended, sticking his tongue out at Katie.

"Tyler!" Trini scolded. "That tongue of yours stays in your mouth," she told the boy.

"But mommy," he pouted. "She's wong. That's Daddy Wangew," he added, stomping his feet and pointing at Jason again. For their part, Jason and Rocky both exchanged embarrassed grins, and shrugged their shoulders, while Aisha and Trini rolled their eyes at their husbands.

"No! Daddy Ranger!" Katie hissed, pointing at Rocky.

"No wey!" Tyler argued back, turning his attention off his mother. Both toddlers continued to argue, while most of the adults looked on, clearly stunned. Tommy was just happy the attention was pretty much off him at the moment.

"This is great," Zack laughed, doubling over. Adam nodded agreement, wiping renewed tears from his eyes.

"Dude," Ethan stated, joining in the laughter. "Red rangers have serious issues," he added in, and Trent snickered beside him. Even Kira was having a hard time not laughing.

"Wouldn't shut up about being a ranger around him?" Aisha asked Trini, who sighed and shook her head in response, crossing one arm over her chest, while she clutched her head in the other. She glared at her husband.

"Pretty sure 'Ranger' came out of Jason's mouth every five seconds from the moment Tyler was born. I'd catch him reliving his adventures when it was his turn to wake up with him at night," Trini explained. "Rocky the same way?"

"Unfortunately," Aisha sighed, looking over at her husband, who gave her a feeble grin. "You two made this mess," she stated, indicating the two children who'd gone back to arguing with each other over whose father was the actual 'Daddy Ranger'. "You get to fix it," she added in, just as Katie growled and launched her body at the slightly larger Tyler. "Oh no, little girl! You keep your hands to yourself!" She caught her daughter by the back of the jean overall shorts she was wearing and held her out to Rocky, who looked at the wriggling, screaming, tantrum throwing toddler like she was a rabid animal. Trini had scooped Tyler off the floor at about the same moment, her arm wrapped around his waist as he struggled to get at Katie, his hands curled into tiny fists. Both women raised their eyebrows at Rocky and Jason, who sighed and came forward, taking the two children. Jason carried Tyler over his shoulder, dangling the boy down his back, while Rocky restrained Katie in the same way Aisha had a moment before, heading outside with both of the children to do some damage control.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Kimberly laughed as soon as they had disappeared onto the back patio. Kira and Connor nodded agreement, while Adam, Zack, Ethan, and Trent continued to laugh. Aisha and Trini sighed and shook their heads, while Tanya gave them both sympathetic looks.

"Tanya, let this be a warning for you, don't let that one," Aisha stated, pointing at Adam, "ever say the word 'Ranger' around your children."

"Oh," Tanya laughed. "I've learned that for sure."

"I would never," Adam laughed, shaking his head. "Only red rangers are that nuts," he added in as everyone who remained in the room took seats somewhere. Kim fell into Tommy's arm chair, while the three adult former yellow rangers took seats on the sofa. Tommy vacated his spot so that Trini could have it, taking a seat on the floor and leaning back against the arm rest. Zack sat down on the floor on the opposite end, while Adam and Trent sat on the love seat. Kira squished herself between Trent's leg and the armrest, leaving Connor and Ethan to find seats on the floor as well. "However, considering Tommy's had three other colors, Kim, I think your chances of dealing with that insanity," he added, pointing at the back door, "are down to about twenty five percent."

"Wait what?" Tommy shouted, his eyes going wide and his face turning red. He instantly realized what Adam was implying. Had he been his normal self, he would have laughed and come back with some witty, sarcastic comment. However, he was clearly not his normal self. He had absolutely no idea who Adam was, except that at some point they were teammates. And he most certainly was not exactly comfortable with the notion that he and Kimberly would one day have children. When everyone started laughing again his face turned a brighter red shade and he instantly looked down at his hands in his lap, avoiding eye contact with anyone, least of all Kim. For her part, Kim blushed slightly red at the idea as well, but laughed slightly and shook her head at Adam's comment.

"But you've got years before that happens," Trini laughed, noticing Kim's slight discomfort, and Tommy's nearly panicked reaction. Clearly, Kim was bothered by the idea of producing children with Tommy, considering his current predicament would have made her a pedophile.

"Yeah," Kim laughed, nodding, and looking down at her hands.

"Anyway," Aisha laughed, looking over at the blushing teenager on the floor, "how have you all been managing with the current, um… situation… is there a better word for this?" she added, casting her glance back at Kimberly who shook her head.

"I don't really think there is a word for this," Kim replied, shaking her head.

"How about catastrophe?" Ethan laughed.

"It's not that bad," Connor laughed, and both Kim and Tommy shot glares at him. "Ok… maybe it is, but it's not like anyone actually got hurt. He's just a little, um… not himself?"

"Little," Zack laughed.

"Well," Trent snorted, "he is himself, just not a version who knows who most of us are."

"Gee," Tommy stated, rolling his eyes and sitting with his knees pulled up towards his chest. "Thanks guys." Over the course of the day he'd begun to get more comfortable around Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent. Having Jason, Zack, and Trini around had helped him relax a bit, but they didn't really know the teenagers that well either. However, having Kim around acted as the bridge he needed. He trusted her completely, and she clearly trusted the teenagers, so it was much easier to let his guard down. At this point, it was only Adam, Aisha, Tanya, and Rocky who he was really weary of.

"So you don't have any clue who we are, huh?" Aisha asked him, a slight disappointed smile on her face. She looked the teenager over. Tommy was definitely familiar, but she'd never gotten the chance to know him at this age. Aside from the few times they'd all regressed, the earliest she'd ever known him was at nearly seventeen years old. She'd known what to expect from what Rocky and Adam had described, but it was still a bit shocking now that she was face to face with it.

Tommy made eye contact with her and shook his head, looking up at Kim, Trini, and Zack, each who gave him reassuring smiles. He sighed and looked back at Aisha. "Not really," he admitted. "I mean, Jason said you're eventually going to be my teammates," he added in, casting his gaze to Tanya and Adam as well, "but that's all I know."

"Yeah," Adam told him with a nod. "We will be. When you're a bit older," he confirmed. "I'm Adam, and the other guy is Rocky," he explained.

"From the video thing yesterday," Tommy confirmed that he remembered. He nodded slightly.

"Exactly," Adam continued. "And this is Aisha and Tanya. We were all rangers with you at one point in time or another," he added, pointing to each of the women in turn.

"I just don't understand how that happens," Tommy stated, looking down at the floor. "As if I didn't have enough to be confused about."

"Understand how what happens?" Rocky's voice joined them. He and Jason walked in, two sullen toddlers walking in front of them. Katie was yawning, while Tyler immediately crawled onto his mother's lap.

"All better?" Trini asked Jason, who leaned over the back of the sofa behind her. He nodded.

"They came to an agreement that there can be two 'Daddy Rangers'," Jason stated, trying to keep his face straight as he gave his son a pointed look.

"Agreement?" Aisha asked, looking at the little girl who was now clinging to Rocky's leg, her thumb in her mouth.

"With help," he informed his wife, "and then I decided that Katie has agreed that it is nap time."

"No nap," Katie told him, shaking her head, but yawning at the same time. Rocky chuckled slightly and reached down, wrapping his hands underneath her arms and lifting her up.

"Oh yes, nap. Little monkeys know that using our hands to fight is not allowed. Only sleepy cranky monkeys forget the rules," Rocky told her. Katie didn't respond, but laid her head down on his shoulder, her thumb still imbedded in her mouth. "Spare room ok Kim?" he asked his friend who nodded.

"Of course," Kim replied with a smile as she watched Rocky pick up the diaper bag as well as Luke's carrier to bring both kids into the spare room at the back.

"I think someone else might be in need of a nap," Trini stated, looking at the small boy on her lap.

"Not tiewood," Tyler replied, shaking his head no. Trini raised her eyebrow at him for a moment.

"You sure?" she asked him. "Because I was sure you knew better than to start fights, especially with people littler than you," she spoke to him.

"I said sowwy," Tyler explained, and Jason nodded.

"He did," his father confirmed. "Without being asked to. He's earned the right not to take a nap. Unless he starts another fight with Katie," he added, giving Tyler a look that said he meant it.

"No mowe fighting. I pwomise," the boys stated.

"Good," Jason nodded. "So really, what are we trying to understand now? Cause there's seriously a lot about our lives that I still don't understand. You're going to have to narrow down the field of conversation for those of us handling the juvenile delinquents."

"Agreed," Rocky stated, coming back in the room without either child, but carrying a baby monitor. "What's up?"

"Tommy's having a hard time understanding how his teammates have switched on him," Zack stated with a bit of laughter in his voice.

"To be fair none of us has really tried to explain it to him," Aisha added in, giving the teenager a reassuring smile.

"Yeah well," Jason stated, "it's not exactly something that's easy to explain. It's not a short story, and I don't even know where to begin."

"I've got an idea," Ethan stated, causing the entire group to shift their attention to him, most wearing questioning looks. "What if we let Dr. O explain it to him?"

"Want to run that by us again?" Rocky stated, his face clearly showing confusion, one eyebrow raised. "How exactly is Tommy going to explain who we all are to himself?"

"You're thinking about the video diary, aren't you?" Kira asked her former teammate, leaning forward, a grin on her face. Ethan nodded enthusiastically. "That could definitely work. It helped Connor understand things."

"I resent that!" Connor stated, laughing. "But I definitely agree. It might be the simplest way."

"What video diary are you all talking about?" Adam asked the teenagers.

"OK, now I know we told you all about that," Trent laughed. "Back in Angel Grove. We told you we should have paid more attention to the video on ranger history."

"That was nearly ten years ago," Aisha laughed. "You expect us to remember that?"

Trent smirked and shrugged in response. "Dr. O transferred it to a disk. You know where it is Ethan?"

"Be back in a minute," Ethan confirmed, pushing himself to his feet and disappearing down the stairs to the basement lab.

"I still don't understand what's going on," Tommy stated, shaking his head. "I'm Dr. O right?" he asked, looking at Kira, Connor, and Trent who nodded. "So how am I going to explain this?"

"You made a video log of ranger history, starting from even before you became a ranger," Kimberly stated. "Don't even ask how you got a hold of some of the surveillance footage," she told the teenager when he opened his mouth to interrupt. "It explains every ranger team between us," she indicated herself, Trini, Zack, and Jason, and these guys," she added, pointing to Connor, Kira, and Trent. "It should help you understand how everyone here was once your teammate.

"A video definitely sounds easier than one of us trying to explain it," Trini laughed.

"And I really want to see this thing," Jason added in with a nod, just as Ethan returned from the basement.

"Found it alright?" Connor asked him, and Ethan held up a circular disk.

"No trouble at all. It was on Haley's side of the lab, so no worries about it getting lost," he chuckled, as Connor tossed him the DVD player remote. Ethan caught it and turned on the television and the disk player, inserting the disk, before stepping back and sitting cross legged in the middle of the floor. He waited for the disk to load and then paused it, turning and looking at Tommy in the eyes. "Pay attention! It'll all make sense if you do."

"Well, not the whole regressing part," Zack laughed.

"Well, everything but that," Ethan confirmed with a nod. Tommy nodded his understanding and turned to face the television screen. Ethan hit play, and dropped his hands to his sides, keeping the remote in his hands. With the amount of former rangers in the room, Ethan knew from experience that they weren't going to make it through the video without at least some interruptions.

The video immediately started to play, and Tommy blinked several times as he tried to process what he was seeing. One the screen, he saw himself. Older. The same individual who he saw in the photographs around the house. The pictures were one thing, but seeing himself wearing a black shirt, and speaking with his voice was one thing.

"I'm Tommy Oliver," the man on the screen spoke. "If you're not me, then something is seriously wrong. This video diary is a confidential record only to be viewed in case of an emergency," he continued.

"I'd say this qualifies," Jason snickered, and Tommy heard the sound of a light smack, indicating Trini had hit him.

"What you're about to see," the video screen Tommy continued, "is a history of my life. My history, as a Power Ranger. My story begins in Angel Grove," he stated, and the screen shifted to a view of five teenagers teleporting into the old command center.

"Ok seriously!" Zack protested, frowning. "How did he get this footage?" he asked, looking at Kim and Trini. Both women shrugged, and Zack shook his head, turning back to the screen.

"When five teenagers with attitude," Tommy's voice continued, "were recruited to fight the evil space sorceress, Rita Repulsa. On the screen, fifteen year old versions of Jason, Zack, Kimberly, Billy, and Trini were shown morphing into rangers.

"Aww," Rocky laughed. "Look how adorable you all were," he added in, as he moved to take a seat on the floor near Adam on the love seat. Jason perched himself on the back of the sofa behind his wife and son.

"Watch it," Jason chuckled.

"Rocky," Kim laughed, "don't forget, there's footage of you on here, too."

"Wonderful," Adam retorted, rolling his eyes. "Just what we want to see. Awkward teenage years."

"Shh…" Ethan commanded, pressing his finger to his lips. He really didn't want to have to pause things this early.

"They harnessed the power of the dinosaur to become Earth's first Power Rangers." The scene shifted to a montage of the five teenage rangers fighting the clay creatures known as putties, as well as various monsters that they all remembered vaguely. "Under the guidance of intergalactic being Zordon, Trini, Zack, Kimberly, Billy, and Jason bravely defended Earth, which forced Rita to create her own ranger."

"Oh crap," Jason muttered, sensing where the video was going, and casting his gaze towards Tommy. Most of the adults had also shifted slightly so they could watch the teenager's reaction. Tommy suspected what was coming as well. He was sitting with his legs crossed, but his arms were at his sides, tense, his hands curled into fists, his knuckles slightly white from the force with which he curled his fingers.

The video shifted, showing a scene within Angel Grove High school. It showed a boy wearing mostly green, his hair to his shoulders. Tommy instantly recognized himself. His tension dropped slightly as his voice's narrative dropped away, replaced with a familiar feminine one. "Hey," the voice stated, and video changed to show the fifteen year old version of Kimberly addressing Tommy in the hall at school. The Tommy sitting in the living room, felt his cheeks become slightly warm. "Um, I'm Kimberly," the girl introduced herself, and Tommy watched his own reaction to meeting her for the first time, completely unaware that he was being watched by twelve other former rangers. Tyler was too busy watching the video from Trini's lap to pay attention to what everyone else was doing. He'd spotted his parents and was definitely intrigued. "You're new around here aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm Tommy," the teenager heard himself say. He fought the urge to look away from the embarrassing scene. For a split second he hopped it didn't continue, but when it did change to show him standing in an alleyway, he almost wished it hadn't changed. "What's going on?" he watched himself ask as a strange wind blew around him.

"Tommy!" Rita's cruel voice echoed, and Tommy fought the urge to jump. No one else flinched. They knew for sure Rita was gone, but in Tommy's mind, she was very much alive and a distinct danger to them all. "I have chosen you!"

"Her evil magic was too strong," the adult Tommy's voice resumed its narrative, as Tommy watched his own abduction by Rita. He bit down on his lip as he watched. "I couldn't fight it."

"Couldn't we fast forward or something a little bit?" he muttered quietly, but didn't shift his gaze away.

"It's alright," Kimberly assured him. "You know what happens. It all works out ok," she added gently. Jason gave him a single nod, and Tommy sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"This boy is truly the one that shall become my evil green ranger," Rita's voice came from the TV screen. "Arise my green ranger!"

"Bad lady," Tyler muttered, watching the blue lightning light up the screen.

"You can say that again," Zack chuckled slightly though his eyes did not share the amusement. He didn't exactly enjoy reliving one of their darkest hours any more than Tommy did, despite that it definitely was not as fresh in his mind. He watched the scene shift to show Tommy's eyes flash green. He cast a look at the teenager on the floor of the living room, almost expecting to see the same green flash in the boy's eyes.

"How can I serve my empress," the Tommy on the video stated.

"Hey Tyler," Kira suddenly stated, grabbing the boy's attention. The toddler was already nervous enough around new people. She didn't think it was a great idea for Tyler to start associating the teenage Tommy with the evil green ranger that was about to appear on screen. "Can you come help me in the kitchen? I could use the help of a big strong boy like you," she added. Tyler frowned for a moment but then nodded.

"Okay," he stated, crawling off Trini's lap and taking Kira's extended hand, as she led him towards the kitchen. Trini and Jason each gave her an appreciative smile, before turning their attention back towards the TV.

"She commanded me to destroy the Power Rangers," Tommy's voice continued from the television screen as the scenes showed the green ranger in morph attacking the others. Trini gripped Jason's hand tightly for comfort. "And I almost succeeded."

"He did not," Zack laughed, trying to add some levity to the tense room. He smirked at the fifteen year old sitting on the floor who read the look in his eyes. Zack was trying to comfort him with humor. Tommy appreciated it. He gave his friend a small smile in return.

"I know you're the green ranger," Kimberly's teenage voice broke through as the scene shifted again, and Tommy's eyes widened in horror. Instead of looking back at the TV screen, he turned to look at Kim, noticing she wasn't watching, but rather was staring down at her hands in her lap. Tommy studied her, not needing to watch the anger flash in the eyes of the teenager on the screen to know what would happen next.

"Well then pink ranger," he heard himself hiss. "You should also know that you and the other Power Rangers will soon be destroyed." As soon as the words were said, Tommy watched Kim look up from her hands and give him a small smile, trying to reassure him. He also noticed a few slight tears in her eyes. She wiped them away quickly.

"It's fine," she muttered to him. "It's all ok now," she added.

"But my friends never gave up," the narrative continued as the scene showed Jason destroying the evil inside Tommy, as he landed face down in the sand. "They helped me destroy the power sword and I was freed."

"That was last week," Tommy muttered quietly, turning back to face the television, watching the unmorphed, teenaged versions of his friends, run towards him.

"Rita's spell is broken," the teenage Zack cheered, as Jason broke off from the group.

"Are you ok, Tommy?" the teenage version of Jason asked.

"What's happening to me?" the video Tommy asked. On the floor, Tommy bit his lip, remembering the feelings of confusion.

"You're no longer under Rita's power," Jason continued. "Fight by our side and we can defeat Rita."

"After everything that's happened?" the video Tommy asked the video version of Jason. Jason felt eyes on him and looked from the screen to meet Tommy's gaze. The boy was watching him, not the television.

"Tommy we need you. It's where you belong," he heard himself say. In his mind he growled. After all that, Tommy was the one that eventually abandoned him. He'd let their communication sever and he'd walked out of his life. Jason had been so furious, he hadn't tried to reconnect it. Truthfully, he knew they were both to blame, but he was angry at Tommy for it. They'd made promises, and those promises had been broken. And at that moment, he was angry he didn't have the Tommy who'd actually been partially responsible for their relationship disintegration in front of him. However, what he did have was a teenage boy who was only one week past a point in time where he needed his friends the most, who was extremely unsure of where he stood with his friends at any point in time. "Will you join us Tommy?"

"I meant it then, and I mean it now," Jason told the teenager on the floor. "It's where you belonged. We're where you belong," he added in, and Zack, Trini, Kim, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya, all sensed the deeper meaning in his words. The teenager however, only caught the surface meaning and nodded.

"Thanks," he stated simply, as Kira led Tyler back into the room, a bright red popsicle in his hands.

"And that's when I joined the team," the narrative voice stated as the two teenagers on the screen shook hands, and Ethan hit the pause button.

"Mommy!" Tyler stated, a grin on his face. "I got a popskel," he added, as Kira handed Trini a whole bunch of napkins.

"No fair," Rocky pouted. "I want one," he added in.

"They're for dessert," Kimberly laughed, tossing on of the seat pillows at him. Rocky caught it and laughed.

"I had to give him something to keep him busy," Kira laughed. "Is it over yet?" she asked the adults, knowing they'd know what she meant.

Adam and Aisha both nodded to her and Kira climbed back onto the love seat, Trent switching to the floor to give her more space.

"That's my Daddy Wangew!" Tyler stated, walking up to the screen and placing his hand that wasn't clutching the popsicle over his father's face.

"Yes, that is your daddy," Trini laughed at him.

"Guys," Tommy stated, "as much fun as that was to relive, how exactly does it explain who they are?" he asked, indicating Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya.

"Have patience," Kira laughed at him.

"Yeah Dude," Connor told him. "It's not over yet."

* * *

The next few chapters will continue to involve the "Legacy of Power" or at leas the video diary from it. Be warned, the next few chapters will be a lot of dialogue and very little chaos. They're bridge chapters in what shall be known as the "Enlightenment of Tommy Arc." LOL. But I do promise, a few twists and turns and lots of chaos coming soon that you may or may not see coming.

One thing I want to mention: When Jason broke the spell on Tommy, it was clearly The Sword of Darkness that he destroyed, as his own personal weapon is The Power Sword. However, in the video diary, it is called The Power Sword, so Tommy's the one who made the mistake (or rather the writers), so I left that in for Cannon sake. Please don't rake me over the coals for identifying the weapon incorrectly.

Thanks for reading, and please please review. I love reading your comments and feedback.

Happy Friday!

Fateless


	9. Chapter 9

You know my self instated rule. I get two chapters ahead, you get a new chapter. Chapter 11 is just about finished, so here's nine. After edits, this comes out to be the second longest chapter (chapter 5 still holds the record at 10,000+ words), clocking in at just over 8,000 words and 15 typed pages, but whats really cool, is that its one scene, so it is the longest scene (and since its a continuation of chapter 8, and feeds into chapter 10, I doubt there will be another quite as long). It also happens to be my favorite in the "Enlightenment of Tommy arc". Based on where I am in the writing, I can tell you that we'll be dealing with some comedy and more emotional stuff for a few more chapters. Chaos will ensue between chapter 12-13 depending on what you consider chaos.

As I have for the last few chapters, gonna go ahead and plug The Order (and if you seriously still don't know what it is, you live under a rock and deserve to be punished), cause I so want to see that project come into fruition and you never known who might be reading this.

Happy Reading!

* * *

"So, based on what you've told us about what you remember, the rest is going to be new to you," Trini told Tommy, as Tyler walked over to her. She lifted the boy onto her lap and tucked one of the napkins into his shirt, putting the rest off to her side to help clean up the boy.

"I guess," Tommy nodded. More than anything, he wished it wasn't true. As much as they assured him that he'd simply regressed, and that he hadn't been transported out of his actual time, Tommy wanted nothing more than to be back in Angel Grove, in the early nineties, where he was needed, and where the people currently surrounding him weren't adults.

"Mommy, that's Tommy wif Daddy Wangew," Tyler told her, looking at the teenager on the floor. Time travel was not a concept that the four year old could grasp, so the fact that a young version of his father could be in a video with the current version of a new friend didn't exactly phase him.

"Yes, Ty," Trini giggled. "It is." Beside her, on the floor, Tommy winced at the words "mommy" and "daddy" escaping Tyler's mouth. He was really trying hard not to concentrate on the child's existence. Katie and Luke he didn't really mind, seeing how he didn't really know their parents. But just looking at Tyler, it was impossible to deny his parentage. And after just seeing the two people as he truly remembered them on the screen, it was a bit disturbing. They weren't even dating, or even remotely interested in each other as far as he could tell. How did they go from teammates to procreating?

"Ok, so, you ready to see what happens next?" Trent asked Tommy, his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," the teenager replied. "Go for it," he added, turning his attention back to the TV. Ethan nodded and hit play. Anything to get his mind off the fact that Jason and Trini had reproduced together. In his mind, they were just friends. If he'd had to place any bets on it, he'd have lost, because his money would have been on Trini ended up with Billy, if she'd dated any of them.

The video instantly resumed showing Tommy and Jason in morph, fighting alongside each other. "But not for long," the narrative continued in Tommy's voice. "I soon discovered the green ranger powers were only temporary." Seated on the floor, Tommy's brow furrowed as he took in the news from his own voice. Since the day before, he'd known he wasn't going to be the green ranger forever. He's seen the photograph of himself as the white ranger. But it had been hard to believe. He was having a hard time trusting anyone else. But there was no denying the sound of his own voice, or the footage on the screen.

"As you're aware, the Green Ranger's powers were completely decimated by his last few battles," a new, strange voice came from the TV, showing Tommy flashing with a green light and disappearing off a beach.

"Zordon," Tommy muttered quietly under his breath. If he hadn't believed himself, there was no denying the truth when it came from his mentor. Most of the former rangers in the room were watching the how the teenager was reacting to the video, rather than watching the video itself. Several wore sad expressions, and a few nodded along with Tommy's realization of the owner of the voice. Tommy must have felt slightly abandoned by his mentor at the moment, feeling like he was trapped in another time, rather than in the correct time and just regressed. And while that meant that Tommy must have been holding out for some type of rescue, the others knew that the rescue Tommy wanted, couldn't come.

"Alpha and I felt it was time to create an even more powerful ranger to combat Lord Zedd and his diabolical evil," Zordon continued, as the scene shifted again to the rangers inside the command center. Tommy's frown deepened.

"Lord Zedd?" he asked, twisting slightly to look at Jason, Trini, Zack, and Kim. They were in the footage when Zordon had spoken.

"We told you Rita had a husband," Jason told Tommy, with a slight smirk on his face. Tommy's face contorted into disgust as he shook his head and turned his attention back to the television screen. His friends growing up and getting married was one thing. But Rita having a husband actually sickened him.

"And now my friends," Zordon continued. "I present to you the White Ranger." A bright white light illuminated the command center and Tommy watched as what he knew to be himself descended from the ceiling, frowning in thought the entire time. He watched himself remove his helmet, and wasn't surprised to be gazing at his own face, albeit slightly older.

"Guess whose back," he heard himself say, and he heard Kim inhale sharply behind him. However, before he could turn away to question her reaction, a strange being who basically appeared to be a skinned man with bright red exposed musculature wrapped in silver metal and wires appeared on the screen next. Tyler's eyes shot open at nearly the same time as Tommy's.

"What the hell is that?" the teenager choked out, scrambling slightly backwards away from the hideous creature, clearly surprised. It was almost as if they'd surprised the teenage with a horror film when he'd been expecting to watch a comedy. As everyone around him burst out laughing at his reaction, Ethan paused the video immediately.

"Tommy said a bad wowd," Tyler stated, although he'd leaned his body away from the alien creature as well. Trini worried for a moment that seeing the image might give the boy nightmares.

"Glad Katie's not in here for this," Aisha stated, clearly thinking the same thing her predecessor was, through her laughter at Tommy's reaction to the scene change.

"Tommy's sorry for saying a bad word," Jason informed his son, casting a look at Tommy, who sighed and nodded. "And that would be Lord Zedd," he added, walking around the sofa and taking a seat on the floor. He pulled Tyler out of Trini's arms, careful not to get any of the partially consumed popsicle on himself as he wrapped the boy in a protective hold.

"Rita married that?" Tommy asked, clearly disgusted. He slowly sat up, from the reclined position he'd taken in his scramble to put distance between himself and the creature on the television screen. Several of the others mimicked his expression.

"You know," Connor stated. "Last time we watched this, we didn't exactly know Rita and Zedd were married. Tommy has a point," he laughed. "This is just gross."

"I think we're lucky those two never reproduced," Adam chuckled, shaking his head. "Could you imagine fighting the offspring?" he shuddered slightly at the thought.

"We'd lose," Kira laughed, "simply because our vision would be obscured by all the vomit in our helmets."

"I did not need that mental image," Trent told her, chuckling. "Of a Zedd and Rita baby, or of a vomit filled helmet," he added, as Kira used her hand to hit him lightly from above, a smirk on her face.

"Ok," Aisha laughed. "Are we done harping on the marital and reproduction status of the evil aliens? Because I'd like to see what happens next."

"You know what happens next," Rocky laughed at her.

"But I want to hear it from Tommy's point of view. And besides," she added, giggling. "He still doesn't know," she added, pointing at the teenage boy in question, who smirked and nodded.

"Ok, we good?" Ethan asked them all, getting nods from the entire group. He sighed and hit play, hoping he wouldn't need to pause the video diary again soon.

"Try to escape this, Power Ranger's," Zedd's dark voice threatened on the screen.

"A new villain, Lord Zedd was destroying Earth," Tommy's narrative voice came back on, showing a large mechanical zord breathing greenish flames. It shifted to show the six rangers in morph, standing around a statue on what was clearly, not earth. Tommy's eyes widened in surprise, but he kept quiet, pretty sure that Ethan might hit him if he interrupted again. "And with three rangers leaving, a new power source had to be found," his voice continued, as the White Ranger took hold of a glowing sword from the statue. Tommy looked at Jason briefly, silently asking if this was the moment they'd referred to earlier. Jason inclined his head and placed his hand on Tommy's shoulder, knowing it would be hard for Tommy to watch. While there was nearly a year between Tommy joining the team and Jason, Zack, and Trini's departure; Tommy's current mind frame told him that the friends he had literally just made would leave him.

"The sword of light will allow your powers to be transferred to three new rangers," Zordon's voice took over, as the scene shifted once again to the command center. Three individuals teleported in and when they stepped into the light, three teenagers appeared on the screen. Tommy examined each of them, his eyes trying to recognize them, and failing, aside from realizing that they were the teenage versions of three of the four new individuals he didn't know. He sighed and shook his head, giving up the hope that watching the video diary might awaken dormant memories. Whatever that device had done to him, it was clear it had done it well. There weren't any cracks in his memories that he could use to get his real mind back.

"Rocky, Adam, Aisha," the white ranger on the screen spoke.

"Awww," Zack mocked, from his seat on the floor in the living room. "Look how adorable you were," he added in. Rocky tossed the pillow Kim had thrown at him earlier at the original black ranger.

"Hey we know them," Trent laughed. "Those are the people we told about the video diary," he chuckled, getting a slight glare from Adam.

"Adorable is not exactly the word I'd use," Connor stated, his eyes focused on the screen. "Aisha was hot," he stated, his eyes glazing over as if he wasn't really thinking about the fact that he was in Tommy's living room, sprawled on the floor watching a video. Trent raised an eyebrow at him, assuming his former leader was remembering the night they'd gone to a high school dance in Angel Grove.

"Dude seriously?" Ethan asked, hitting pause the moment Connor opened his mouth. "Rocky's right here," he added, turning around to look at Connor behind him. The teenage former red ranger, snapped out of his apparent day dream, and paled, realizing what he'd said and looked over at Rocky who was only a few arms lengths away from him. Granted, Trent was somewhat between them, offering a slight bit of defense. However, Rocky's body language was still relaxed. He had his back pressed against the arm rest, his knees slightly pulled up, with his arms extended and his wrists draped over his knees. Adam was watching him, slightly concerned he might have to pull Rocky off the teenager again for the second time in his life. Zack, Jason, Trini, and Tommy all looked slightly confused, while Tanya, Kira, and Kim were all trying to suppress laughter.

"Don't look at me," Rocky stated calmly, raising an eyebrow at the teenager. "I'm not the one that's going to kill you," he stated, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at where his wife sat on the sofa with the other adult former yellow rangers. Connor followed his motion with his eyes, letting them come to rest on her. Aisha was glaring daggers at Connor.

"What do you mean 'was'?" she hissed at him through gritted teeth, her hands curled into fists at her side. She lunged off the couch, toward Connor, ready to smack him with as much strength as she possessed. Rocky caught her around the middle, pulling her down into his lap.

"Mommy," Connor squeaked out, scrambling backwards like a crab across the floor to put as much distance between himself and the disgruntled yellow ranger as he possible could. Aisha glared at Rocky for a moment for stopping her, before shaking herself loose. Still glaring, she stood back up, and fell into her seat on sofa, arms crossed over her chest.

"Doesn't matter which yellow ranger they piss off," Adam stated. "Red rangers have a death wish," he concluded, shaking his head, which he had smacked with the palm of his hand. "You know," he laughed. "I think Zordon to this day that he chose Rocky to bed red," he laughed. "I seriously think I'd be a whole lot more demented, otherwise." Rocky shot him a mock glare in response, while Jason grabbed a pillow off the sofa near Trini and smack Adam as hard as he could with it.

"Dude," Ethan laughed. "I think you just made him wet himself," Ethan told Aisha, who was still glaring in Connor's direction. Connor was on his hands and knees peeking out from behind the arm chair that Kimberly had curled herself up in, laughing with tears rolling down her face, his face showing embarrassment and terror.

"Let it go Aisha," Trini told her successor gently, placing her hand on Aisha's shoulder. Her face wore a grin, as she shook her head. "That one called me old yesterday, and I managed not to kill him," she added, pointing at Tommy, who jumped, now that the attention was back on him.

"You did what?" Kimberly shouted at Tommy, her laughter dying away as her facial expression morphed into one of disbelief. She had lunged forward and was now perched on the edge of the chair.

"I said I was sorry. I didn't mean it. I was only calling them old," the boy tried to defend himself, pointing at Jason and Zack. "I kind of forgot everyone's the same age," he added, with a half apologetic smirk, his eyes now reflecting a similar terror to the one in Connor's eyes. He ran his hand across the back of his neck and peeked up at Kim from beneath his eyelashes.

"Do you really think I'm old, Tommy?" Kimberly pouted slightly, her voice quiet and timid, which told Jason, Zack, Rocky, and Adam that it was not a good sign. There were a few tears in her eyes. Everyone turned to look at her. Trini, Tanya, and Aisha were all smirking. Zack and Rocky were staring at the exchange between Tommy and Kim, stunned; while the four real teenagers watched in horror. Jason and Adam were both shaking their heads, knowing this might actually be the moment where Tommy died.

"No," Tommy stated quickly, shaking his head, and holding his hands out in front of him like someone would as they attempted to calm a wild animal. "Absolutely not," he insisted. "Please don't cry." He was near panic mode. If there was one thing he could not deal with at that moment it was seeing Kimberly, the girl, or rather woman at this point, of his dreams crying. Even when she'd confronted him about being the evil green ranger, she hadn't cried. This was bad. Really bad.

"But you think I'm old," Kim whimpered, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout as a few tears began to roll down her cheeks. She cast her gaze down towards the floor, looking extremely dejected.

"No; no; I really don't," he argued, clearly frantic and not knowing what to do. He looked over at Jason for help. The original red ranger just shrugged and shook his head. It was not his fault Kim was crying. There was no way in hell he was going to get involved in the mess Tommy had created. "I think you're beautiful," Tommy defended finally, causing the other three adult female former rangers to start snickering. Tommy ignored them. It was the only thing he could think of to say to calm her down. He just hoped it worked.

"You mean that?" Kim asked, wiping her eyes, and looking up at him. Her brown eyes shown with unshed tears, as she met Tommy's gaze and held it for a few seconds. In that moment, both of them forgot that they were being watched by everyone else in the room.

"Of course I do," the teenager told her, sighing with relief that she seemed to believe him. Yes, she looked older than he remembered, but his heart knew that this was Kimberly. He might not have been dating her yet, but he knew he wanted to be. He already knew he loved her, and seeing her cry was the worst thing he could imagine. It broke his heart. "So please don't cry," he told her quietly. "I don't want you to, and I know my older self wouldn't either," he added in, and Kimberly nodded once, giving him a slight smile. It was quiet for a few seconds.

"And best actress award goes to Kimmy," Zack chuckled loudly, causing everyone else to laugh. The original black ranger was shaking his head in his hands, clearly mocking Tommy's reaction to Kimberly breaking down in tears.

"Wait what?" Tommy asked, his face bewildered. He turned his head rapidly from Kim to Zack and back again, confused. Kim's eyes still shown wet with unshed tears, despite the grin she wore on her face. All of the former rangers in the room began to laugh if they weren't already. Tommy couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened or what was going on, but he wasn't sure he liked it.

"Bro," Jason laughed. "She played you," he added. Tommy's mouth fell open slightly, realizing Kim had gotten him to admit he had some type of feelings for her. Sure, considering what their future appeared to hold, she knew he liked her, but knowing that, and getting the teenage boy to admit it were two different things. He looked at her, signs of betrayal on his face, as he gaped. "Might want to close your mouth," Jason snickered, shaking his head.

"Nice one Kim," Adam laughed as well, clearly enjoying the horrified look that Tommy wore.

"Man," Rocky laughed. "He's been whipped since day one."

"Thanks guys," Kim laughed, although there was a slight nervous edge to it, which caught Trini's attention. Trini narrowed her gaze at Kim, but didn't say anything as she watched her friend wipe the rest of the tears out of her eyes, taking a deep breath. Her shoulders rose and fell dramatically with the effort, as Trini tried to pin point why something about the situation felt off. "Alright Ethan, I think we can resume now."

"Ok," Ethan laughed. "Resuming video," he confirmed, raising the remote and hitting play. Tommy blinked a few times, debating if he should protest, and then sighed and turned his attention away from Kim and back onto the television. Kim was older than he was and clearly had the upper hand, but he knew he'd want to have a talk with her later.

"Isn't this incredible?" the teenage Aisha on the screen asked before Tommy's narrator voice came back.

"Trini, Zack, and Jason passed on their powers and the three new rangers stepped forward." Tommy watched as the White Ranger held up the sword and used it to pass the red, yellow, and black ranger powers from his current to friends, to what appeared to be his new ones. Now that he saw it happen, he understood a bit better. Jason passed his power to Rocky, Zack to Adam, and Trini to Aisha. However, that explained how he was teammates with three of the unfamiliar people in the room. He still didn't understand how he came to be teammates with Tanya, or the other teenagers; or how Jason was also their teammate.

The scene shifted to show both Rita and Zedd crossing their staffs as blue bolts of energy danced around them. "By the power and force of lightning make our monster grow," the two villains laughed.

"And just in time because Rita and Zedd had teamed up to form our most powerful enemy yet," the narration continued, as a bone like creature appeared on the screen and grew to zord fighting size. He was thicker than any skeleton Tommy had ever seen, carried a sword made of the same material as his body, and was half painted in camouflage.

"And that's Rita's brother Rito," Kira informed Tommy before he could ask anything. The boy didn't turn his eyes from the television screen, but simply nodded that he'd heard Kira's explanation. He didn't want to take too much of his mind to dwell on it. If Rita had a brother, that meant she had parents. He really hoped that alien babies weren't created the same way human babies were. Maybe, they were created by the process of mitosis he'd learned about in school.

"Bringing with them, a new terror, Rito," the narration went on at the same time as Kira spoke. "The new team fought bravely, but it wasn't enough." Tommy listened, watching as the megazord was blasted and the zords were destroyed, horror on his face. He couldn't understand how they could be defeated like that. How was the world still safe? How were they still there? He felt his own heart break as he watched the horror and terror he felt reflected on the faces of his friends. "Rito, destroyed our zords."

"How?" Tommy squeaked out, not wanting to watch the look of horror on his friends faces on the screen. He might not have known Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, but he felt the pain reverberating from Kim and Billy, as well as himself. He blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what he had just witnessed.

"Just watch," Adam told him forcefully, but not unkindly. He and Rocky were both biting their lips as they watched, despite knowing the outcome. Aisha had turned her head so she wasn't watching the screen. She hated remembering that moment. She could still hear Kimberly's screams if she thought about it.

"We've lost more than our zords," the slightly older version of Tommy stated on the video. "We've lost our powers."

The scene changed again to show a blue mechanical looking ninja creature. "Your journey is about to begin," the creature spoke, and Tommy's eyes narrowed back at the screen in confusion.

"A ranger never gives up," he heard the narration say in his own voice. He frowned deeper, trying to take his own words to heart as he watched the rangers surround the creature, dressed in cloth ninja outfits in their respective colors. "Zordon sent us on a quest to find Ninjor, a warrior from the past who showed us the secrets of the ancient ninja. Our quest complete, we gained new weapons, new zords, and new enemies."

The scene shifted to show the ninja clad rangers fighting large bird like creatures with purple leather-like body armor. "Tengas," Aisha informed Tommy, noticing the questioning expression that the teenage boy wore.

"I hated those things," Connor stated, simply, his facial expression mostly blank. He was still half hidden by Kim's arm chair, keeping a safe distance from Aisha, in case she decided that she was still pissed off at him.

"They were annoying," Kira put in with a nod, although her expression didn't really betray much either. She looked pretty relaxed as she watched the screen.

"How did you?" Tommy began, turning away from the video to look at them for a moment, to look at the two teenagers who'd spoken. His face betrayed his confusion. If the events he was watching had taken place in the nineties, and it was the early two thousands, and the other teenagers were really teenagers, they would have only been children when the rangers fought the tengas. He was beginning to wonder if the video was creating more questions than it was answering. Maybe he should have just had them explain who they all were instead of watching it.

"Time travel, remember?" Ethan told Tommy, who paused for a moment to look at the former blue ranger teen with confusion, before remembering their conversation the day before.

He nodded once. "Right," he confirmed, turning his attention back to the screen, still not entirely sure.

"But along with new enemies, came new friends," the narration continued. A blond teenage girl appeared on the screen which now showed that the location was the youth center. She wore a pink t-shirt underneath a light grey button down vest, and a pair of pale blue slacks. Tommy watched as the older version of himself, clad entirely in white, extended a hand to her in greeting.

"I'm Tommy," he spoke.

"Nice to meet you, Tommy. I'm Katherine," the girl spoke with an Australian accent.

"So, that's Kat," Trent muttered quietly. He'd never been around to see the video, although he knew it existed. All the other rangers, minus the teenagers, nodded.

"When Kimberly chose to leave," the narration continued, and Tommy's eyes shot open. He swirled his head around to gape at the woman sitting in the arm chair so he didn't see the teenage Kim hand her power coin off. She wore a sad smile, but nodded to him once. "Katherine was the only choice."

"I need a break," Tommy stated, suddenly, pushing himself off the floor, as Ethan scrambled for remote, surprised by Tommy's unexpected reaction. The former blue ranger immediately hit the pause button, staring at his regressed mentor in shock; his reaction mirrored on Trent, Connor, and Kira's faces. Tommy didn't wait for a response from anyone. One moment he was there, and the next he'd stormed out the back door of the house, slamming the sliding door behind him.

"Maybe we should have warned him that that was going to happen," Rocky stated, looking around at the rest of the group, and wincing. Adam and Aisha nodded, while Trini and Kim both sighed loudly, meeting each other's gaze before looking toward the back door where Tommy had disappeared.

"Tommy's mad?" Tyler asked, looking up from the circle of his father's arms. Jason exhaled sharply and nodded, standing the boy up and pushing himself to his feet.

"I'd better go talk to him," Kim stated, moving to stand up herself. She didn't think that any warning would have made that easier for Tommy to watch. Her mind was racing as she realized what Tommy storming off actually meant. While everyone else around them seemed to always know that Tommy and Kim had been destined for one another from the very beginning, it was the two of them who were the most oblivious, especially when it came to knowing the others feelings. Tommy's reaction had shocked her, but at the same time, it made her realize exactly how long Tommy had loved her. It was exactly as long as she had loved him.

"I got this Kim," Jason stated, handing Tyler off to Zack. "Something tells me your presence would not be very helpful at the moment," he told her gently, and Kim nodded her understanding, though she did cast her gaze to the floor as she fell back into her seat. "We'll be back soon," he told her, letting his hand touch her shoulder as he walked around behind her, before heading out into the back yard.

He found Tommy punching a heavy bag that dangled from a chain off one of the trees, muttering incoherently under his breath. The boy looked angry, sad, and confused all at once. Jason leaned against one of the porch supports, crossed his arms over his chest and watched him for a few moments, letting the teenager work off some frustration. Despite the revelations that the video diary had revealed so far, the atmosphere inside had remained fairly light hearted. Save one individual, everyone else pretty much knew what was coming, even if they didn't know the exact details. They hadn't really thought about how knowing all of the information would affect Tommy. When he actually lived it, the changes were gradual. Now, he was being forced to deal with the fact that as a ranger, he would lose Jason, Trini, Zack, and now Kimberly, in a span of less than five minutes. Jason wasn't 100% sure the video wouldn't tell them what became of Billy. So the fact that Tommy was now freaking out, didn't really surprise him.

"You done?" Jason called out as Tommy's movement and ranting began to slow. Unaware that he'd had an audience for most of it, Tommy stopped moving, and looked behind him, surprise evident on his face. Jason noticed his eyes were slightly wet, but the teenager did nod once. Jason shifted and dropped his arms away, walking towards him. He climbed down the steps of the deck, and sat down on the lowest ones, his feet resting in the grass, his elbows on his knees, watching the teenager.

Tommy sighed, knowing Jason was waiting for him to sit down, but he chose not to. Instead, he propped himself up against the trunk of one of the tree supporting the heavy bag. For a few months, both of them stared at one another. "Why didn't anyone warn me?" Tommy finally stated, his volume slightly elevated, but not loud enough.

"Honestly," Jason told him, "none of us really like to dwell on the fact that we all left the team at one point or another, so I guess we didn't really think about it. It really isn't that big of a deal."

"Not a big deal?" Tommy scoffed at him. "This is my life we're talking about. You all just come and go as you please and I get to watch it happen," he growled. "It might not be a big deal to you, but it is to me." It wasn't fair. Jason had told him that they were meant to be together. So why did all his friends end up leaving him?

Jason let him rant for a moment, and then let silence over take them. He sighed and looked up, meeting Tommy dead in the eyes. "Are you upset that we all left, or are you upset that Kimberly did?"

Tommy gaped at him. Jason hit the nail on the head, and he knew it. He could lie and try to deny what Jason was suggesting all he wanted, but both of them knew the truth. Jason really didn't have to ask that question. Sure, knew he would miss his friends when they left, but watching the comradery happening inside, he knew he would come to cherish the friendships he had with Adam, Aisha, and Rocky, and apparently Tanya, despite not knowing when that would happen. But the recent revelation had caught him completely off guard, for multiple reasons.

The first was that Kim would leave. Based on the fact that they clearly ended up dating, although Tommy didn't know when it would happen either, he'd assumed they'd been together since their ranger days. How could that be true if she left the team? The second was that this Kat person was missing. She wasn't at his place, and unlike Billy who was also absent, there had been no mention that she was on her way. Additionally, Trent's statement made it sound like the teenagers, who were apparently his most recent teammates, had not met Kat. He didn't understand what that meant, but he didn't like the feelings it gave him. And the third reason was one he wasn't quite ready to admit yet. There was a distinct reason why Kim leaving upset him the most.

"If she leaves me, how does this happen?" Tommy finally spoke after being silent and casting his gaze to his feet. He pushed himself off the tree and walked over to Jason, sitting down beside him. Tommy wasn't sure that Jason caught that he'd said "me" instead of "the team".

"Tommy, your memories currently only go up to fifteen. Kim is twenty-seven. That's twelve years difference. A lot of things happen and change in twelve years," Jason told him gently.

"Why can't just one thing stay the same?" Tommy rebutted, shaking his head slightly.

Jason gave the boy a half smile. "You really did have love at first sight with Kim, didn't you," he laughed gently, and Tommy looked up at him, pale faced, opening his mouth to argue. "Don't deny it," Jason told him. "You haven't even asked her out yet and you already love her." Tommy sighed, but didn't argue. That was the third reason. He loved her. He'd known her just over a week, and he already loved her. But if she left, did that mean she didn't love him? He looked way, casting his eyes back towards the grass. "Well, there you go," Jason told him. "One thing that will stay the same. You will clearly always love her."

"Even when she leaves?" Tommy muttered, not looking up. Jason put his arm around the boy's shoulders.

"I'm not going to tell you everything that happens between what you remember and who you really are now. Honestly, I don't know everything that happens," Jason told him. He hadn't been there when Tommy got Kim's break up letter, but Billy had filled him in on the aftermath. And as much as he loved Kat like a sister, Jason had known from the moment he'd returned to Angel Grove that she and Tommy didn't quite fit. However, Tommy was his own man, and Jason had never said anything, letting his friend live his own life, and potentially make his own mistakes. "But I do know, you've always loved her," Jason confirmed with a nod. "And another thing, I told you this a long time ago, except that time I was the one punching the heavy bag," he laughed. "Leaving was a really tough decision for me," he told Tommy, remembering what he'd followed those words up with last time he'd spoken them. He left that part unsaid, and continued on. "So I know, it wasn't easy for any of the others either; especially Kim. When she did leave, it was hard for her to leave you to. She loves you Tommy."

"That's good to know," Tommy stated quietly, nodding. He really didn't have any other words to express what that statement actually meant to him. He wasn't even sure how it was possible that he already loved her, despite the fact that he knew he did. Jason had told him that Kim currently loved him, but what did that mean about the past? Had she always loved him as well?

"And another thing; someone pretty smart once told me, no matter what happens, we'll always be friends," Jason stated, with a slight smirk. He wondered if, despite everything, that statement could still hold true. He'd have to test it, once Billy arrived to get things back to normal.

"Sounds pretty wise," Tommy conceded. "Who told you that?"

"Oh," Jason laughed, pulling his arm off the teenager's shoulders and shoving him lightly in the head so that Tommy fell forward. "An eighteen year old version of you," he laughed. "But you're clearly not him yet. Not smart enough."

"Hey," Tommy laughed, sitting up and grinning at Jason, rubbing the back of his head. He looked past Jason's exterior appearance and recognized the teenager he'd shaken hands with on the beach. He recognized the red ranger who'd destroyed the evil power gripping him. He recognized his leader and his friend.

"You ready to go back inside?" Jason asked him. "You're causing them all to worry," he informed the teenager. "And there's still more to the story."

"I guess," Tommy replied, standing up. Jason stood as well.

"Don't worry," Jason told him, placing one hand on the teenagers shoulder and guiding him back into the house. "It will all work out," he added, as they entered.

"Hey," Trini greeted them when they walked back in. Several individuals were missing from the living room and a few others had moved around. Kira had left the love seat and was on the floor, leaning against Trent's arm. Zack had taken her spot and was discussing something with Adam beside him, and Tanya, who leaned over from her spot on the end of the sofa. Kim was talking with Kira, Trent, and Ethan quietly. Jason released Tommy, and fell into the empty seat beside his wife, as both Connor and Aisha weren't in the room. "You ok?" Trini asked Tommy as he walked around to reclaim his spot on the floor. Tyler was snuggled against her chest, his eyes half closed, the popsicle gone, leaving only a red stained wooden stick on the end table beside her and a rim of sticky redness around his mouth.

"I am now," Tommy replied, with a nod. "Sorry I stormed out," he apologized, his face slightly red, embarrassed by his own actions now that he was back in the living room, surrounded by everyone.

"No need to be," Kimberly told him, as Aisha walked back in the room with the baby monitor. She'd been checking on the two kids, having heard sounds of shifting through the monitor. She gave Tommy a smile in greeting and settled herself on the floor between Rocky's legs. He draped his arms around and over her shoulders. "We should have told you what was coming. Just for reference, Billy, Aisha, and Rocky will leave before you take a break, too," Kim continued, not meeting his eyes. She was still kind of in shock from his reaction. If he'd been sixteen, or seventeen even, she would have expected it. But he was one week past joining the team. If memory served her correctly, and when it came to their relationship, it did, neither of them was remotely near admitting feelings for the other. Tommy nodded. Rocky and Aisha leaving didn't really phase him much as he didn't know them well, but hearing that Billy would leave, gave him a bit of a shock, not that he would admit it. Storming out once was enough for him. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, getting his emotions back under control.

"Thanks for the head's up," Tommy told her, as Connor came back in the room from the kitchen. He held a large bowl of popcorn.

"You need to share that," Kim told the red clad teenager, as he circled the couch and plopped down on the floor beside Tommy, crossing his legs beneath him, and grinning at the only pink ranger in the room.

"Will do," Connor stated, taking a handful and passing the bowl off. "Anyway, we ready to resume?"

"Yeah," Tommy told Ethan who gave him a questioning look. The blue clad teenager nodded and pressed the play button on the remote.

"Katherine assumed the pink ranger power," the narrative resumed, "and just in time. We were under attack." The scene erupted in sparks and explosions as the Command Center began to explode. Tommy took a deep breath as he watched.

"You must evacuate the Command Center," Zordon commanded the rangers on the video.

"Teleportation sequence activated," Alpha's voice added in.

"We got out just as Rita and Zedd succeeded in destroying the Command Center," the narration continued. Tommy frowned as he watched himself pick up a solid white crystal from among the ruins.

"It's all here," his voice spoke. "This is incredible," he added, as a bright light engulfed the area and the ground began to shake, descending the rangers down into the ground.

"Beneath the ruins, we found the zeo crystal. A mystical power that guided us into the next chapter of our lives as rangers," the narration added in. The scene shifted, revealing the rangers standing in a space Tommy didn't recognize, behind a surface that held five strange morphers. He saw Rocky at the center, with Adam on his right. Himself and the girl he recognized as Katherine stood behind. Billy was missing, as was Aisha, but instead, a teenage version of the woman he recognized as Tanya stood on Rocky's left, wearing clothing that were clearly not from the united states.

"Ethan," Tommy spoke. "Can you pause it?" he asked, looking over at his older friends, confused, as Ethan nodded and paused the video. "Did I miss something? I thought we'd resume right where we left off?" He was clearly beyond confused. And judging from the looks on some of the other former rangers' faces, so were they.

"We did," Rocky laughed, shaking his head. "Seems like your adult self didn't want to relive what happened between Kat joining the team and finding the destruction of the Command Center," he added in.

"Not that we really blame him," Adam stated, with a bit of a chuckle. He shook his head and Tanya slapped him lightly. "What?" he laughed. "I definitely don't want to relive it."

"It couldn't have been that bad," Kimberly laughed. "Given everything else we'd gone through." In her mind she could list off countless strange events, and considering Adam had gone on to serve as a ranger longer than she had, she was fairly certain that he could as well.

"You get no say in this," Rocky told her. "You weren't there. You don't remember," he stated, cringing. "Be thankful."

"Yeah," Aisha laughed, "you four didn't have your powers," she indicated Jason, Zack, Trini, and Kim, "so you got to be blissfully unaware that the entire planet went back in time."

"It did what?" Tommy asked, slight panic in his voice. "Ok," he stated, shaking his head before anyone could answer. "Maybe I don't want to know anymore."

"You asked," Trini laughed at him. "Go on Aisha," she encouraged her successor. Aisha laughed slightly and shook her head.

"The entire world was reverted back in time. We went from about seventeen years old, to about nine," she explained.

"The whole world?" Ethan asked, frowning. "Everyone?"

"Yep," Rocky stated, nodding to him. He could see the gears in Ethan's mind turning as he pieced together the meaning. "You guys included. Would have made you something along the lines of infants."

"Please," Kira stated, blushing bright red. "Don't say anymore," she groaned and Adam gave her a sympathetic look. Kim, Jason, Zack, and Trini all wore quizzical expressions, as if they were trying to remember the moment.

"Tommy never said anything about it," Jason stated, and Kim shook her head in agreement. "You guys remember anything?" he asked Trini and Zack who both shook their heads.

"The power coins protected our memories," Adam explained. "And I seeing how he left the events out of the video history, I doubt very much it's something he enjoys remembering. Apparently, he can handle evil, but not turned into a child."

''I don't blame him," Tommy muttered, clearly in agreement with his older self. Being regressed officially sucked. Everyone picked on him, and he had a major crush on a girl that he couldn't do anything about. Plus, he was powerless. Powerless was not a feeling he liked.

"So when we came back in time," Trent asked, "it wasn't too much longer after that?" he wanted to hear more about the story, despite agreeing with the others that regression was not an enjoyable experience.

"Nope, a few months, give or take," Rocky explained. "To be honest, I wish we'd have had memories of regressing with you guys at the time. It would have made the adjustments that much easier. Probably the hardest part about regressing is getting used to the limitations of your body and emotions," he stated. Adam and Aisha nodded agreement.

"Ok wait a minute," Tommy stated. "Just how many times have I been regressed?" He was clearly not enjoying hearing about something that seemed to be a common occurrence in his life.

"Let's see," Adam stated, "There was once before Kim left, then the second and technically third time, would be when you all came back in time, the fourth would have been the one Aisha's talking about, which would make this," he stated, gesturing to Tommy's current physical form, "the fifth time."

"Five times?" Tommy gulped, paling.

"Unless it's happened again in between and we don't know about it," Aisha stated, with a laugh, casting a look over at Dino Thunder teenagers. The four teenagers shrugged and shook their heads. As far as they knew, Tommy hadn't regressed during his time with them, aside from the trip to the past. But only Haley would know what had happened to him between leaving the rangers and then rejoining them.

"You'd think you'd be used to it by now," Rocky chuckled, getting a laugh from Zack and a death glare Tommy.

"Granted, this is only the second time he hasn't retained memories of who he really is," Adam reminded his friends. Tommy just shook his head, rolling his eyes and muttering the number five a few times under his breath. "Not sure which way is worse," he stated.

"Having memories," Aisha stated. "Definitely having memories is worse. Tommy's only embarrassed now because you all keep picking on him," she stated, with a smirk at her husband. Rocky blushed slightly and nodded. "If you didn't, he'd be perfectly fine acting like the fifteen year old he is. But you've all got him convinced he needs to act like an adult."

"She has a point," Rocky stated. "When you're regressed and you remember how old you're supposed to be, it's that much worse."

"You mean like accidentally blurting out that girls have cooties?" Adam laughed, directing his comment at Connor, who blushed red. Tommy grinned, happy to see someone else get picked on besides him.

"So what happened? How'd you get everything back to normal?" Tommy asked, enthusiastically. Now he actually wanted to know.

"It's a pretty long story," Aisha replied, getting nods from Rocky and Adam, "so I'll just fill you in on the gist of it. We clearly didn't have any powers, so Zordon requested help from the Alien Rangers of Aquitar," she continued.

"Alien what?" Tommy stared at her dumbfounded. There were aliens?

"Alien Rangers," Aisha repeated. "Honestly, do you believe Earth is the only planet to have rangers?" she asked him. "Zordon came from Eltar, remember?" she insisted.

"Sorry," Tommy replied, blushing red slightly, embarrassed that he'd interrupted again.

Aisha just chuckled slightly and sat forward, crossing her legs underneath her. "So, Alien Rangers came to help, while Billy worked on a way of getting the six of us back to normal," she explained. "He succeeded in creating a device that would restore our normal ages. It used the power from our power coins. However, Billy only got the chance to use it on himself, before Goldar took it and destroyed it, along with the power coins," Aisha explained.

"Which left the rest of us stuck as rug rats," Adam laughed, and Tanya hit him lightly.

"As I was saying," Aisha stated, glaring at Adam for interrupting and then turning her attention back to Tommy and the others who didn't know the details of this point in their history. "Zordon sent us each on a quest of the pieces of the Zeo crystal which were scattered across time and space which he hoped would restore the world to its proper time. I ended up tracking mine to Africa," she continued, "where I met Tanya."

"And Aisha realized she could do good there," Tanya stated, "so instead of returning to Angel Grove," she continued, "we traded places, and when the Zeo crystal was all united, it restored Earth to its proper time, changing our pasts so that no one but us would know the difference," Tanya informed them.

"Wow," Tommy stated, shaking his head, and then cupping it in his hands as he processed what was being said. He sat up after a moment and looked at everyone. "So let me see if I have this straight?"

"Go for it," Zack encouraged him.

"I start off as the green ranger," Tommy stated, getting nods from everyone around him. "Then I become the white ranger," he listed, still getting nods. "And then Jason passed his powers to Rocky, Zack passed his to Adam, Trini passed hers to Aisha, who then passed them onto Tanya, and Kim passed hers to Katherine."

"Sounds about right," Kimberly told him with a nod.

"And then, after that, our powers change, and you become the red ranger," Rocky laughed.

"Wait, what?" Tommy asked, looking around the room for confirmation. Another color? What the hell was he going to be when he grew up? A technicolored ranger? How many other colors would he wear before black? He gulped, paling as the idea of pink popped into his head for a brief moment.

"Here," Ethan stated with a laugh, "watch the video," he added, putting his hand on Tommy's shoulder and spinning the younger teenager back around to the television before hitting the play button.

"The power of the zeo crystal now resides within you," Zordon's voice said. Tommy frowned slightly as he watched the zeo crystal split into pieces. The red fragment rested over his own head, while the green hovered over Adam, blue over Rocky, yellow over Tanya, and pink over Katherine. "It will bestow upon you powers beyond your imagination," Zordon told the five now morphed rangers.

"Ok guys," the teenage version of Billy appeared on the screen. "This is the first test of your new powers," he spoke.

"Your?" Tommy asked, spinning his head around. "Billy stopped being a ranger?"

"Yes," Jason informed him, as the Zeo rangers fully morphed. "He felt he would be of more service inside the Power Chamber rather than outside it."

Tommy nodded his understanding and turned back to the screen to watch himself running alongside another individual, as explosions went off behind them. He was now clad in red, while the person beside him wore white and a large trench coat.

"The Zeo powers were awesome," Tommy's narration resumed as the two were chased by metallic looking robot creatures. "But when we needed reinforcements, we turned to an old friend."

"The new gold ranger's right here," Tommy watched his older self say, and the camera cut away to show Jason walking into the Power Chamber.

"No way, bro! Gold!" Tommy's eyes shot open as everyone behind him laughed. Tommy turned around briefly to grin at Jason, finally understanding how Jason hadn't been lying when he'd said that he was teammates with Rocky and Adam as well. Jason gave him a slight smile and shrugged in return.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing it. Tommy's getting a lot thrown at him at once and is really struggling not to let it be an overload. I'm also trying to juggle his reactions to everything. He hasn't forgotten Kim leaves, and those of you who are hoping for a conversation between the falcon and the crane will get it next chapter. Gotta wait till they're alone. It'll be one of a few talks they have during this fic, actually.

Hope you're enjoying. And as always, especially for those of you who review anonymously and I can't reply to, thank you for all the support. I went back and re-read all my reviews to Chronology and its really humbling. You guys are great. I love reading your reactions. It keeps me going forward even if I hit a writers block wall. Oh, and on that note, in case anyone is curious, chapters are often written while listening to Eyeshine, specifically Sonosis (and if you've never heard of Eyeshine... ugh... shame on you).

Thanks in advance for the reviews! Here's hoping to hit 100 by Chapter 10.

Fateless


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys, this one's a bit shorter, but I've got awesome news. I just finished the initial write of chapter 12 and it is 19 pages long. This is before the edits. It is already the longest chapter. And I can't wait for you all to read it. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy this one.

Real quick KLR, if you read this and you haven't checked your PMs, you might want to do that. *winks*.

Oh, and I don't remember if I've said this before, aside from spelling errors - Tyler speaks almost as well as a grown up, his difficulty is mainly with the letter "r", while Katie has absolutely no trouble with "r" but remember, she is just about two and a half, so sometimes what she says won't always make sense.

Happy reading.

* * *

"Jason returned and assumed the power of the gold ranger," the narration on the video continued as Tommy whirled back around to watch, his mouth hanging open in a dumbfounded expression. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he would one day be the Red Ranger, which told him that as reluctant as he may have been to do it, he'd become leader. And hadn't Rocky called him that earlier? While Jason would become gold. How did anyone become a gold colored ranger?

"That's just," Tommy stated, not successfully finding words to describe what he was watching as the Gold Ranger flipped through the air in front of fiery explosions.

"Awesome? Amazing? Unbelievable?" Jason supplied for him, getting laughs from the other three Zeo team members present. "Bro, I had a freaking pyramid!" Jason stated, complete bravado in his voice, which caused everyone to burst out laughing, mainly because Tommy's face reflected pure and total disbelief.

"After High School graduation," Tommy's adult narrator voice resumed, "We were ready for face the world." The word's brought Tommy's attention off of Jason and back onto the video diary. He blinked a few times, having difficulty wrapping his mind around an event that seemed so normal, yet far off. He still had years before that. And with every strange thing that was apparently going to happen in his life, he was rather taken by surprise that he would accomplish something as normal as graduating high school. But then again, if he really thought about it, it seemed his friends were capable of achieving normal things such as getting married and producing children (not that he really wanted to think about that). "But not before going on one last adventure as rangers. It was time to shift into a higher gear."

"Shift into Turbo," the teenage Tommy on the video stated from within the cockpit of what appeared to be a zord. Tommy frowned for a moment in confusion as the scene changed to show that the rangers were now inside vehicles, capable of amazing speeds. His eyes shot open.

"Ok," Tommy stated, pointing at the screen, "now that's cool." Trying to keep up with the ever changing team around him, Tommy counted off himself, the teenagers he recognized as Adam and Tanya, as well as Kat, who was Kim's replacement on the team. Rocky, Jason, and Billy were missing. "Where's?" he began.

"Gold Ranger powers were temporary, just like your green ones," Jason told him gently, and Tommy nodded his understanding.

"And, um, Billy kind of goes to another planet," Adam told Tommy, waiting for the teenage boy's expression to show that his brain had exploded. Surprisingly, Tommy blinked rapidly a few times, before sighing and shaking his head. Apparently he was learning to resign himself to strangeness. In his mind, Tommy was realizing that while some of his friends would go on to lead normal lives that included grown up things like jobs, spouses, and children, not all of them would follow that pattern. "It's kind of why he's not here yet. Takes longer to get Earth than just a car ride."

"And you'll see about Rocky," Tanya told him, realizing he was trying desperately to follow the time line.

"The old rangers were gone forever," the narration continued, and Tommy frowned, turning back to the screen. "But the Turbo Rangers were born. A space pirate named Divatox launched an attack on Earth." Tommy watched the ever common in his life explosions, as well as the rangers new morph. "We were given the powers of Turbo and took her head on. With a little help."

The scene shifted to show a small boy, younger than he was at the current moment. Tommy blinked. "Guys," the boys stated, excitement on his face. "I'm the new blue ranger."

"Ok," Tanya laughed, drawing out the word. "Maybe you won't. Your future self really started cutting corners on the explanation thing, didn't he?" she stated, raising an eyebrow, and looking over at the teenagers who shrugged.

"We've always kind of wondered who the kid was and where Rocky went," Ethan stated, "but we didn't think it was exactly something to press. Figured Dr. O or you guys would tell us if we ever needed to know." He paused the video, and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"Do we have to tell them?" Rocky whinned, running his hand over his face, embarrassment clearly in his expression. "I thought we agreed there were things we all didn't want to talk about."

Trent laughed. "You could live with being regressed into a child multiple times, but not talking about why you left the team? That's pitiful," he told the older former ranger, a sly grin on his features. Rocky glared at him and muttered something about disrespectful rookies.

"Oh come on," Kira laughed. "It can't be that bad; after all, Trini, Zack and Jason went to a peace conference, Kim went off to the Pan Globals, Aisha went to Africa, and Billy left for Aquitar. What cool thing did you get to do?" Rocky had grimaced as she'd listed off each of the rangers departures except his own. He gave Aisha a pleading look, while Adam collapsed into hysterics behind him, wiping tears from his eyes.

"You want me to tell them?" Aisha asked Rocky, who sighed and nodded, casting a glare over his shoulder at the ranger who possessed the spirit of the frog, who was now rolling around on the love seat.

"If it must be told," he replied, dropping his shoulders and his gaze back down to the floor.

"Oh ape man," Adam choked out through his laughter. "It so must be told."

"You weren't laughing when it happened," Tanya told her fiancé with a slight grin on her face.

"That's because back then I was actually worried," Adam told her. "Now, when Kira put it in that type of perspective, it's hysterical," as his hysterics started to die away slightly. He was still laughing.

"Someone want to fill us in?" Trent raised an eyebrow and Tommy nodded enthusiastically.

"Adam, Tommy, and Rocky were training for a benefit match," Aisha explained, having heard the story numerous times. "Rocky accidentally landed on his back and got badly injured. Zordon had to pass his powers onto Justin as the rangers needed someone badly. Rocky decided to let Justin keep them and started his and Adam's dojo."

"Seriously?" Connor stated, raising his eyebrow at Rocky. "A back injury? During practice? Not even in the actual match?"

"It's all healed now, and I can kick you're as-butt," Rocky quickly amended, remembering that Tyler, though half asleep on his mother's lap, was still present in the room. Connor smirked in response and shook his head.

"Dude," Connor laughed, "That sucks," he added, over Adam's laugher.

"Frog boy," Rocky called, rolling his eyes. "You done?"

"Nope," Adam replied, though his laughter did turn to snickers and Rocky shook his head.

"So this Justin kid," Ethan said, pointing back at the screen. "He's only slightly older than we are then?"

"Never thought about that," Tanya stated, quizzically. "He was about twelve or so when he became a ranger, so he's in his very early twenties now." She and Adam had just spoken to him a few months before.

"Yeah," Adam confirmed. "He just graduated college. Only took him four years because he quadruple majored," he added in.

"What?" Ethan stated, frowning, his mouth hanging open. "Four majors? How is that possible?"

"When Justin joined the team, he also started high school," Adam explained, with a shrug of his shoulders. Justin being in high school had made it a bit easier to forget he wasn't just some little kid tagging along with the rangers all the time. It made him feel a little more like one of the team. "The kid's a genius."

"So why don't we contact him and see if he could help us fix Dr. O?" Trent asked, getting enthusiastic nods from the other individuals on his team, including Tommy. "After all, it's going to take a genius to fix this."

"Can't," Adam went on, with a sigh. He shook his head. "He's backpacking through Europe at the moment, celebrating his graduation. There's no way to reach him." Of course that would be their luck. Haley refusing contact; Billy out of possible contact; and Justin conveniently out of reach as well. The morphing grid must really have hated them.

"Well," Ethan stated, "there went that idea. And I can't say I'm not disappointed. I would have loved to meet him."

"You'll get the chance," Tanya told him with a smile and nod. "He's invited to the wedding," she added in and the teenagers nodded, although Tommy just looked slightly overwhelmed.

"So why exactly did we need a fifth ranger so badly?" Tommy asked, looking from the boy on the screen to the adults around him. He couldn't process a child becoming a ranger. It was too dangerous. How would they be able to go into battles and not worry about the boy? At present, he wasn't much older than the child on the screen, and even he was worried.

"Oh," Kim laughed lightly. "Little snafu," she added, pinching her fingers together, and Adam started laughing again. She wore a nervous smile on her face.

"Little?" Tanya stated, rolling her eyes, although she was grinning. She remembered that day and neither snafu nor little were words she would have used to describe their first battle as Turbo Rangers. If she thought about it hard enough, she could still feel the bruises she'd obtained through her ranger suit.

"Ok, big snafu?" Kim conceded, sighing when she noticed the perpetual frown on Tommy's face. "Divatox kidnapped Jason and I to give to this creature called Maligore as a wedding present. It sort of turned us evil for a bit."

"Sort of?" Tanya questioned again, shaking her head and slapping her forehead.

"Yeah well, we were slightly demonic," Jason confirmed. "Sorry for almost killing you," Jason told Tommy, a bit of laughter in his voice. Everyone else around him broke out into laughter. Years later, the entire thing was funny. So strange space pirate had fed them to an ancient evil entity and turned them evil. What was with space women and their obsession with marrying hideously ugly creatures in an attempt to gain power? And why were the Power Rangers always the damn wedding present?

"Please explain why you all find this so funny," Tommy stated simply, his mouth gaping open at the entire group surrounding him. He definitely didn't get it. In the excitement, he'd risen up on his knees, now he sank back so that his bottom rested on his heels, his hands dangling limply at his sides as he tried to piece together everything he was being told. Rangers switching out, new enemies to fight, friends being kidnapped and turned evil. How was any of that cause for amusement?

"Bro," Jason stated with a sigh. "It's simple. We lived to talk about it."

"If we didn't laugh," Zack continued shaking his head, "we'd probably all be so depressed right now."

"Laughing at it is how you cope," Connor put in. "You've got to laugh or you go crazy."

"The boy can be taught," Rocky stated, with a grin on his face at his younger counterpart. Connor gave him a grin in response and nodded once.

"At least on some topics," Connor conceded. "When I want to," he added in, laughing at himself.

"You're all insane," Tommy stated simply, shaking his head, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Told you that already," Zack laughed in response, not denying that fact. He was pretty sure they would all fail a traditional test for sanity, even the calm ones among them, like Trini or Billy. Tommy rolled his eyes at him.

"Just watch the video," Ethan told him with a laugh. Tommy sighed, and nodded, turning his back on the clearly deranged adults, as Ethan hit play. The video showed himself and Kat driving in a pickup truck that was attacked by fishlike creatures on motorbikes. A scene shift and an explosion, followed by Kat's voice screaming 'Tommy look out' and he saw himself face down, unconscious on the ground.

Two new faces appeared. A darked skinned teenage boy and a long haired girl of Asian descent. "I can't just stay here and do nothing," the teenage boy told his female companion before he ran towards the creatures.

The scene shifted again to show the teenagers fighting, as the narrator listed off the names of the teenagers. "TJ, Cassie." Another scene showed a blonde teenage girl ushering children to safety at the request of the Yellow Turbo Ranger. "Ashley." The final scene showed The Green Turbo Ranger asking a hispanic teenage boy for assistance. "And Carlos proved that they had what it takes."

"You've been asked to select an outstanding individual who will take over as your successor," a new female, alien voice stated. Tommy assumed it was coming from the floating torso and head of a woman clad in white. Part of him really wanted to ask where Zordon was, but another part of him was done with surprises and done with bad news, so he set his mouth in a grim line and continued to watch, blinking. Why had Kat's face showed more than normal concern for a friend? Why had the female alien said successor? Why did he need a successor? "We welcome them now, into the Power Ranger family."

"I wouldn't be standing here today, TJ, if it wasn't for your courage and strength," he watched himself say. "I choose you to lead the team as the new Red Ranger."

Ethan hit pause on the video and looked over at Tommy, who was staring at the screen in surprise. "You ok?"

"We just gave up our powers?" he squeaked out. "Just like that? After everything we'd been through?"

"I'll admit," Adam told him, standing up and walking over to Tommy. He squatted down and placed on hand on the teenagers shoulder. "I remember feeling exactly the way your face looks right now. Surprised, angry, disappointed, confused," he explained. "But looking back," he added, looking over at Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya. His eyes rested on Tanya and he gave her a small smile. "We deserved the reward of having a somewhat normal life. There's things we've all been able to do that wouldn't have been possible if we'd stayed rangers," he explained, his eyes falling on Tyler. He thought of Katie and Luke, asleep in the spare room. He was getting married in two months. He could have a family, too, if he wanted one. All because he had let Carlos take his powers. He hadn't wanted to admit it back then, but he was tired. Tired of the constant attacks, of feeling responsible for the entire planet, of worrying about what would happen to the world if he made a mistake or if he failed. Sure he hadn't been able to completely leave the power – once a ranger, and all that – but he and all the others had been able to relax a bit more than they normally would.

"And the power's not completely gone for all of us," Rocky stated with a slight snicker, getting various looks that promised bodily harm would befall him from several of the other rangers. He smirked and shrugged. Tommy had a right to know.

"What do you mean?" Tommy said, frowning. He had just watched himself hand off his powers to a teenager named TJ. How could he still have powers? How could any of them? Even the other teenagers had confirmed that their powers were gone now as well.

"The Zeo powers were never destroyed," Rocky stated, and Aisha hit him, as hard as she could, which actually caused her husband to wince and rub the spot on his chest where she had struck. He mouthed the word 'Ow', and Aisha just rolled her eyes at him. "What'd you do that for?"

"Don't tell him that," she scolded. "He'll want to use them." Tommy's eyes went wide as he realized that the video had told him he was also Zeo ranger. She was right. He didn't like feeling powerless. If there was a way to resume the power, he would take it. The regressed ranger opened his mouth to ask how he could morph.

"Probably not a good idea," Adam warned, cutting him off. "Your body isn't old enough for them yet. They might not be stable. I don't think it's advisable for you to test whether you can morph with them or not." He sighed, realizing he'd sort of just made Tommy's own point from four months ago when he and Rocky had, not knowing if they were stable, used the Zeo powers. In that moment, he understood Tommy's fear and concern, as he was pretty sure he felt the same feelings at the thought of the teenager attempting to morph into Zeo Ranger five, physically a few years too young.

"Shrunken Tommy we can handle," Kim stated with a nod. "I don't want to know what the morphing grid might do to you if you piss it off," she added in, and Tommy's face turned to disappointment. "Don't pout," she told him with a giggle. Embarrassed, Tommy turned his head away from her and blushed slightly.

"So what happens next?" Tommy asked. "I mean, now I get how all of you are part of my life, but what about them?" he asked, pointing at Trent, Connor, Ethan, and Kira. "Are you next?"

"Hardly," Kira laughed. "Between you passing off your Turbo powers, there was the Space team and Lost Galaxy Rangers."

"Lightspeed Rescue," Trent added in.

"Time Force," Ethan stated. "Speaking of Time Force, didn't Dr. O promise to have Wes explain some of the stuff about time travel to us?" he asked his former teammates who nodded. "Remind me to ask him about that when we get him back to normal."

"Wes?" Tommy frowned. How did he know someone named Wes?

"Time for red," Trent told him, although Tommy frowned. That didn't help. How did he know the red time force ranger? He wanted to ask more, but the teenagers kept going.

"There was Wildforce after that," Connor continued.

"And Ninja Storm," Kira stated. "They're the ones in Blue Bay Harbor," she added to Trini, who nodded once in understanding.

"Wow," Tommy stated, taking in the number of teams she'd just mentioned. "There's that many rangers?"

"At about six a piece, you're looking at thirty six more rangers between when you gave up your powers and when we became rangers," Trent stated. Even the older rangers looked surprised at that answer. While many of them were aware of all of the other ranger teams, they'd never actually taken the opportunity to could how many individuals were actually connected to the morphing grid.

"There are fifty two power rangers," Adam stated, blinking his eyes rapidly as his brain did the math. "Fifty two. That's half way to one hundred."

"Way to state the obvious," Rocky laughed at him, but his expression clearly showed the same awe that Adam's did. He shook his head, trying not to picture the massive amount of individuals. Thirteen of them in one room was crazy enough.

"Fifty four if you count the phantom ranger and the blue centurion," Tanya added in, getting looks from the others. She shook her head and shrugged.

"So who's our sixth?" Tommy asked, frowning. His question was directed at Connor since the teenager had informed him of the fact that he was the leader.

"Didn't have one," Connor laughed. "Didn't need one," he added in. There was an immense amount of pride in his voice.

"I'd say there were a few instances where six would not have been unwelcome," Kira laughed, shaking her head at Connor. "And we did team up with Ninja storm once," she continued. "But nope, just the five of us."

"Although, Rocky, Tanya, and Adam helped us out a few months ago," Trent told him. "So for a little, we did have a team of eight. It just wasn't permanent."

"Yeah," Rocky stated. "Let's not do that again. My muscles were sore for weeks afterwards."

"That's called getting old, dude," Connor laughed at him, and Rocky gave him a mock glare.

"Anyway to fast forward thought all those teams, Ethan?" Trini asked him. "I don't think that's necessary for Tommy to watch."

"Agreed," Kim stated, knowing what would happen to Zordon during the space rangers' tenure. Ethan nodded, and hit the fast forward on the remote. He hit play again, only when he saw the adult version of his mentor appear back on the screen.

"With the return of Mesogog, it became necessary to invoke the power of the dino gems. Should anything happen to me," the adult version of Tommy stated, as the scene shifted to show Ethan, Connor, and Kira each holding their dino gem, and their morphing sequence beneath them. "These three are in charge of protecting the planet. You're in good hands." As he finished speaking, the screen went black.

"That's it?" Tommy asked. "Where's Trent?"

"You never got around to adding onto it," Kira told him. "You made the last entry before Trent and even you, joined our team." She actually sounded a bit disappointed. They'd just watched a really awesome history, detailing the start of their legacy, and she felt that they were left holding the short stick.

"Maybe when we get you back to normal, we'll convince you to add to it," Kim stated, with a smile, though her comment wasn't just directed at Tommy. Kira gave the woman a slight smile, realizing Kim had caught on to her feelings. It was moments like those when she'd wished she'd had another female ranger around during their tenure. As far as she knew, there was only one other individual who got her her completely, and that was Tori, ninja storm's blue ranger.

"I'd still like to know where he got all that footage," Zack laughed, shaking his head. "It's a bit creepy." He wasn't entirely sure he liked the fact that there was video of him in morph, or in the command center, or anywhere else in general. If that disk fell into the wrong hands, they were screwed.

"I'm sure Haley helped him," Trent laughed. "And," he added, seeing the worried look on Zack's face, "like everything else Haley has ever worked on, there's a fail safe."

"That disk will only play in particular players," Ethan explained. "If I'd, let's say, tried to put it in a portable DVD player, the player and the disk would combust. Don't ask me how, that's a Haley question."

"And the digital version can only be accessed by computers tied to the morphing grid," Kira went on. "Trust us, we in no way want anyone to know our identities either," she stated, laughing and shaking her head. She wasn't a huge fan of Cassidy and Devin being in on it either.

"Gottcha," Tanya nodded, standing up and stretching. Adam pulled himself out of the squat he was in and stretched as well.

"So," Aisha stated to Tommy. "Any other questions?"

"Anything at all?" Trini added in, shifting Tyler's weight slightly. The boy was dozing, his eyes shut, and his mouth slightly open. Apparently he was slightly overwhelmed by all the people in the room.

Tommy stared at both of them for a few moments, his mouth slightly open. Seriously? Did they seriously just ask him if he had questions? Because that was the understatement of the century. Of course he had questions. How exactly did he loose the green ranger powers? Why did Jason have his power coin? Where was the dragonzord? How old would he be when he became the white ranger? Or when he became the red ranger? Why would Jason, Trini, and Zack choose to go to a peace conference? What were the Pan Globals that Kira mentioned? Why were they so important that Kim had to leave? What made Aisha stay in Africa? Where in the universe was Aquitar and why did Billy go? Why did he stay? How on earth could Zordon let a little kid become a ranger? How did they let Jason and Kim get kidnapped? Where was Zordon? Where was Alpha? How did Jason end up married to Trini with a child? Who exactly was Katherine, because he was positive she wasn't just another ranger? And how the hell did he somehow go from just wanting to be near Kimberly to sharing a home and even a bed with her?

Tommy shut his mouth slowly, and shook his head no. Everything he'd just learned was overwhelming enough. Both women laughed at him slightly.

"Are you sure?" Aisha asked him, and Tommy sighed.

"I'm sure," he replied, with a nod. "I don't really think there's anything else I need to know," he stated, stressing the word 'need'. Truthfully, he just didn't know how much more he could take.

"Ok then," Trini stated, despite knowing he was lying. She didn't want to push him. He'd ask them if and when he was ready. And hopefully, they'd get him back to normal before hand. She stood up, balancing Tyler against herself, even though her movement caused him to stir slightly.

"Mommy?" the boy stated, as she handed him off to Jason, who gave her a questioning look, even as he began rocking him slightly, hoping to put the boy back to sleep. Tyler yawned.

Trini chose not to answer the boy, knowing if she did, Jason wouldn't succeed in getting him to fall back to sleep. As much as he might not have wanted a nap, the last two days had been a bit overstimulating, and she hoped he'd continue to sleep. "Well, I'd like to have a look at the machine that did this. I doubt I can do much to fix it, but maybe I can have some notes on it ready for when Billy gets here," she stated.

"I'll come too and try and help," Adam put it, standing up and stretching.

"Sure," Ethan stated. He'd walked over to the television set and was removing the disk that contained the video diary. Haley was already going to kill them for Tommy's accident; he didn't think she'd like to come home to find the confidential record of ranger history missing from its proper location. "I'll show you both where it is," he added. "Kim, any plans for the rest of the day?"

"Nope," she stated. "We were just going to hang out here for the rest of the day since everyone is probably tired from driving, and eat dinner. Tomorrow is the beach."

"Sounds good to me," Jason stated, as the sound of crying echoed from the baby monitor on the end table nearest Rocky and Aisha. The sound caused Tyler to begin to blink his eyes, and Jason sighed. He wasn't going back to dream land any time soon.

"I got them," Rocky stated, kissing Aisha lightly and jumping to his feet, as she nodded her appreciation.

"I'll get started prepping dinner," Kim stated, pushing herself out of the arm chair and moving toward the kitchen.

"Good idea," Zack laughed, "I'll come help," he added in, his stomach growling slightly.

"How about you stay here and help Jason and Rocky keep the kids busy and Aisha and I can help Kim?" Tanya suggested, giving the original black ranger an appraising look. Zack chuckled in response and nodded, taking Tyler from Jason. It was apparent the toddler was not going to drift back off to sleep now that he'd been roused slightly. Jason happily relinquished the child to his favorite uncle.

"I'll help too," Kira stated, leaning down and kissing Trent lightly on the cheek, before following Kim, Aisha, and Tanya into the kitchen as Rocky came back in the room carrying Luke in one arm, and holding Katie's hand with the other. As soon as he released her, she ran right to Connor and tackled him to the floor. Tyler frowned for a moment, before wiggling out of Zack's hold. He approached Connor, who was now on laying on his back on the floor, Katie draped across his abdomen. He paused for a moment, before suddenly throwing himself over the teenage former red ranger, who grunted at the impact.

"No fair," Connor laughed. "Two on one," he stated, causing both toddlers to start giggling. He turned his head to look at Tommy. "Little help here?" he asked the younger teenager, who wore a quizzical look. When he didn't move, Connor raised his eyebrow.

"Oh… yeah," Tommy stated, slightly uncertain. He shifted over and pulled Katie, who giggled hysterically, off Connor, and laid her down on the floor and then began to tickle her. Connor laughed, and rolled himself to sitting, grabbing Tyler, and imprisoning him on the floor the same way Tommy had Katie. Tyler shrieked with laughter.

"No faiw! You'we biggew," Tyler stated, through laughter. "Help!" he laughed.

"Hewp," Katie copied, giggling.

"I'll save you," Trent laughed, pushing himself off the floor and mock pulling Connor and Tommy off the hysterical children, who leapt to their feet and suddenly tackled Trent to the floor. "You betrayed me!" he laughed, pretending to be dragged to the floor.

"Alright you five," Trini laughed, seeing how Rocky, Jason, and Zack weren't making any moves to interrupt the horse playing, but were rather watching it with amusement, mainly because Tommy had opted to let his guard down around the toddlers. "Why don't you take this outside?" she suggested, giving Jason a pointed look, as she turned to follow Ethan and Adam down the stairs to the basement. Jason nodded and waved her off.

"I'll make sure they do," he told her, and Trini nodded, turning her back and descending the stairs into the dino thunder team's lab.

"Good to see Tommy let his guard down," Adam stated, when Trini reached the bottom of the stairs behind him. Trini nodded and sighed once.

"Connor's been picking on him all day, but at the same time, he has been helping him relax a little," she stated, hearing Ethan snicker. The dark skinned teenager was near the computers, filing the disk away in a metal box that had a dinosaur footprint on it and a complicated looking pad lock.

"He's been pretty on edge then, I take it?" Adam asked her, and Trini nodded again. "I suppose this is really strange for him," he confirmed, with a nod of his own. "The sooner we get him back to normal, the better it'll be."

"That'll be easier said than done," Ethan told him, walking back over to both of them. "Dr. O said the device wasn't even finished yet, so I'm not even sure where we should start," he added in.

"Where is it?" Trini asked. Ethan sighed and nodded towards the corner of the lab. He and Trent had moved it while they were cleaning, figuring Kim wanted every square inch of the house organized, including the lab. The only place they hadn't touched was Tommy's desk; that was a job for an entire summer unto itself.

"Here," Ethan stated, leading Trini and Adam over to it.

"What the hell is that?" Adam laughed, sizing the machine up. "This looks like something my mother would have used when she went to get her hair done. It looks ridiculous."

"Don't tell Haley that," Ethan laughed. "I don't think she'd let you live," he added, crossing his own arms over his chest. He hadn't even wanted to attempt to fix the device, terrified that if he did something wrong, Tommy would be stuck as a teenager and forced to grow up all over again. Kimberly would kill him.

"This Haley person sounds pretty scary," Trini remarked, raising an eyebrow at the former black and blue rangers currently in the space with her.

"No scarier than you, Aisha, or Tanya," Adam chuckled. "Seriously, if not for Kira," he added in, "I'd have pegged her for Dino Thunder's yellow ranger," he finished. Trini smirked, and rolled her eyes. Seriously, she and the others had always agreed that the men tended to exaggerate the ferocity that was a yellow ranger. She shook her head and began walking around the strange device, examining it with her eyes.

"Kira is pretty intimidating herself when she wants to be," Ethan added in with a chuckle. He watched Trini for a few moments. "It's safe to touch," he stated, "I think. We unplugged it, so there's no power supply."

"That's good to know," Adam stated, indicating that he and Trini were both weary of going near the device. After all, it hadn't exactly had positive results on Tommy. It was not something they were eager to experience. "Regressing twice was enough for me, thank you very much."

"Never tried it," Trini laughed, stepping closer to the machine and running her hands over it, frowning. "Don't think I would enjoy it much," she added.

"Neither have I," Ethan laughed. "Watching Connor, Kira, and Trent go through it looked traumatic," he added in. "So what do you think?" he asked the two older former rangers. He was leaning back against one of the support columns in the lab, his ankles crossed, and his arms over his chest.

Adam and Trini paused in their examination and made eye contact with each other, each giving the other a slight smile. Although they'd never worked side by side before, each knew that the other had often helped Billy when he needed an extra mind, set of hands, or eyes in the command center, or his garage. "I'm not really sure; it looks complicated," Adam stated, shaking his head.

"I know we've been through all his already, but since we're together, three brains are better than one. Why don't you tell us what you know about how it was supposed to work?" Trini asked, turning her back on the machine and looking at Ethan. "Do you have something to write with?" she added in.

Ethan nodded, and walked over to Tommy's desk, finding a blank legal pad and a pen that he hoped had ink, before returning to Trini and Adam. He handed the pad and pen to the former yellow ranger, who tested the pen on the paper as he began to speak. "Dr. O said that it was supposed to translate the ideas of the person sitting in the chair into images on the monitor so anyone watching could watch the memories of the initial individual."

"Why couldn't he just be content with telling stories?" Adam stated. "Any idea how he got Haley to go along with this foolishness?" Normal people exchanged stories. Normal people longed for quiet laughter with friends. Normal people did not memory extraction devices for a reunion. Why couldn't Tommy just pretend to be one of the normal people for two weeks? That's all he asked.

Ethan smirked. "Haley likes building things. And she likes a challenge. I've got no doubt that if it had been finished, it would have worked." In reality, he didn't think it would have taken Tommy long to persuade her. All he would have had to do was doubt her abilities, and Haley would have been all over making a device that could translate memories to pictures.

"Probably didn't help that it got hit with a soccer ball," Trini stated, recording what Ethan explained.

"Connor can kick that thing pretty hard," Adam confirmed, with a nod, wincing at the memory of being out on the soccer field with him. He wasn't sure if that day was etched into his mind because of his colossal failure on the field, or because it was the first time in over half a decade since he'd morphed. Either way, it wasn't something he was going to be forgetting any time soon.

"So, again, tell us what happened when it got hit?" Trini asked, kneeling down to examine one of the control panels on the side of the chair. There was a metal door that appeared to open on some type of hinge. A wire stuck out of it near the arm rest.

"It started to shake," Ethan stated, frowning and watching as Trini pried the metal door open. "There was sparks, and a lot of smoke. Dr. O had the dome over his head, and the smoke kind of obscured everything so we didn't actually see the change."

"How'd you stop it?" Adam asked him, examining the wires near the monitor. They weren't fully connected to the chair, but he could tell where they would eventually lead.

"Unplugged it," Ethan chuckled, getting a grin from Adam in response. "It's not really like we could think of anything else to do," he added in. "Seriously I thought it was going to cook Dr. O." A cartoonish image of Tommy charred as if he'd been barbequed popped into Ethan's head, and he couldn't help but chuckle. Although, in reality, he supposed burnt flesh would have been horrifying, rather than amusing.

"All those years of fighting monsters and aliens and the great Tommy Oliver gets done in by a chair," Adam laughed, shaking his head. "You know, I could see the irony in something like that happening."

"I can too," Trini laughed. "I've been spending too much time with Jason and Zack," she added, although she didn't look away from the panel she was examining. She wrote down some notes as she went on the pad at her feet. "Adam," she called. "What do you think of this?" She was pointing to the wires sticking out of the top of the panel. Adam frowned at them, clearly thinking.

"You guys need any help?" Ethan asked, raising his eyebrow. Trini shook her head in response.

"I think we're good Ethan," Adam told him. "Tell the others we'll be up soon?"

"You got it," was the teenager's reply. He pushed himself away from the support column and climbed the stairs back into the main part of the house, leaving Adam and Trini to work alone in the basement.

"Wire's frayed," Trini remarked when Ethan was gone. "And there's some major charring in here," she added. Adam frowned and walked over to look at what she'd found. He squatted down beside her, and Trini pointed to the wires. "This one was sticking out the top, touching the arm rest."

"Wanna bet that was touching Tommy when the thing went off?" Adam asked her, shaking his head.

"More than likely," Trini replied, with a sigh. "You find anything near the monitor or the dome?"

"No," Adam told her simply. "The monitor's not even fully connected yet."

"Well," Trini stated, recording a few more notes, "I think it's safe to say that however it happened, it started in this panel. It's majorly damaged," she added, and Adam nodded before standing up. "It's beyond my capabilities."

"The notes will help Billy," Adam assured her. He offered a hand down to the original yellow ranger to help her to her feet. Trini took his hand and stood up, grabbing the pad and pen with her free hand and dropped them in the seat of the chair, as Adam led the way over to a nearby leather sofa.

"Think he'll be able to figure it out?" Trini asked Adam, who nodded. She trusted and loved Billy, but she hadn't seen him in years. She hadn't dealt in ranger chaos in years. The idea that they might not be able to get Tommy back to normal terrified her, but she hadn't wanted to show her worry in front of Tommy and Kim.

"Of course," he stated. "This is Billy we're talking about. I trust him with my life," he added in. "Actually, I did that recently." He looked up and saw the questioning look on Trini's face. He sighed and shook his head once, as if not really wanting to remember what happen. "I let Billy use me as a guinea pig for restoring Trent, Kira, Tommy, and Kim to the correct frame of mind after Mesogog turned them evil."

"You willingly went evil?" Trini asked him, placing her hand on his shoulder. Haven't dealt with Tommy during the aftermath of being the evil green ranger, she knew the pain and regret that those events often caused. Adam nodded.

"Said and did some pretty horrible things," Adam confirmed. "But I only did it because I knew Billy would find a way to cure it. He'll find a way to fix this. He has to. For Kim."

"They were apart too long, weren't they?" Trini nodded. It wasn't so much a question as a statement. "We had a girl's trip last year," she told Adam. "She wasn't miserable, but I could tell something was missing." They'd seen each other several times over the years since Trini had left for the peace conference, and Trini could only remember one trip where Kimberly had seemed whole – right after she'd given her power coin to Kat. She'd visited Trini before heading to Florida.

"Nearly a decade is a long time apart," Adam confirmed. "You know," he added in. "I'm pretty sure their break up was partially responsible for Tommy pulling away from everyone else," he replied.

"You think?" Trini laughed, rolling her eyes. "That's a given. Let me guess," she added. "He played it off that he was protecting all of us from this?" she asked, gesturing to the lab that served as Dino Thunder's command. Adam smirked and nodded in response. "He is such a fool," Trini stated, placing the palm of her hand on her head and shaking it. "The others buy it?" Of course Trini knew that Tommy had pulled away to protect himself from hurt. She wouldn't tell Jason that though; she was pretty sure Jason would definitely beat the shit out of him, and he might not wait until Tommy was back to normal to do it.

"Pretty sure everyone but Billy believed him," Adam stated. "And actually, I think Kim knows the truth. I think he told her when he went back in time." He remembered she'd seemed a bit sulky for a few days after she and Dr. Oliver at the time had had their conversation out on the porch that resulted in said adult avoiding them all and making a larger mess of thins.

"He never could lie to her," Trini confirmed with an understanding nod. "You all forgave him pretty easily, huh?"

"It was kind of hard not to when we had memories of his visit to the past. We could tell he was really torn up, even if, at the time, we really didn't know why. He sincerely regretted walking out of our lives," Adam assured her. "Yours too," he added in.

"Kim told Jason, Zack, and I this morning that Tommy had meant to reach out," Trini started, with a shrug of her shoulders. She wasn't so sure she believed that. She hated that their once tight group of six was so frayed. She and Jason's relationship had changed, and Zack was as close to Jason as ever, but with Billy being on another planet, and Kim living so far away, and Tommy not talking to anyone, things were far from how they'd once been.

"Dino Thunder had some major complications," Adam stated. "Their lab and their powers were destroyed. I know how that feels. You saw the Command Center explode on that video." Trini nodded once. "But we had the Zeo crystal. It wasn't over for us." The day the Command Center exploded ranked as one of the worse days of his life. Despite the positive outcome, he remembered the feeling of his heart sinking as he felt his powers were gone forever.

"But it was for them," Trini agreed. She'd chosen to leave the power. Jason and Zack had as well. And Kimberly, and Billy, and even Tommy had when the time was right. Although from Adam's words earlier, maybe that decision hadn't been entirely their own. Still, when it was a choice, it didn't hurt so much. The current teenagers had had their powers ripped away from them.

"Seems that way. It's been a few months and they haven't gotten them back," Adam confirmed. "Tommy was ok," he stated, "but the kids," he continued, shaking his head. "Tommy said they went to prom that night, but the next day, once it really hit them," he added, sighing and shaking his head. He couldn't really find the words for the depression that Tommy and Kim had described. Tommy had to assure him that they were handling it to convince him and Rocky that they didn't need to drive out there to help the teens through it. "I couldn't even get Kira to answer her phone for a week."

"You have a pretty close bond with her?" Trini asked, slightly surprised. She gave Adam a gentle smile. Adam who nodded and shrugged, although he blushed slightly at the thought that he might be slightly overprotective of the young woman.

"After what we went through," he chuckled slightly, "it was hard not to. She's like a little sister," Adam confirmed.

"Tommy did a good job mentoring the four of them," Trini stated. "Conner's a little strange, but you can tell he's a good leader."

"Most reds are a little touched in the head," Adam laughed. "You should know," he added.

"Oh," Trini laughed. "I do," she added in. "But they're also not very forgiving."

"Jason's pissed off at Tommy still?" Adam asked, sensing Trini's meaning. She clasped her hands together and nodded. "He has a right to be," Adam assured her. "You're angry with him too," he stated.

"I'm not," Trini started to protest, but Adam shook his head.

"I can see it in your eyes," he informed her, throwing his arm over her shoulders.

"No wonder Billy worked with you a lot," Trini grinned. "You see things," she added.

"Not like you," he reminded her. "I could never replace your skills on the team," he assured her. "But you have a right to be mad at Tommy too. Just not this version."

"Yeah," she stated. "I'm sure when we get him back to normal, we'll be able to clear the air," she added. "Right now, he needs us to be his friends."

"Exactly," Adam stated. "Because Connor, Rocky, Zack, and I really aren't doing him any favors in that area," he laughed, recognizing that he was having a bit too much fun teasing the poor kid. He wondered if, when everything was fixed, if Tommy would remember anything. If he did, Adam knew they were all in for a world of hurt. Especially Connor, since the boy would have a harder time defending himself.

"It's not hard to be his friend now," she stated, laughing a bit. "He really is that unsure fifteen year old with a major crush on Kimberly. So when does Billy get here?"

"Friday," Adam told her with a grin. "And it's a permanent move."

"Seriously?" Trini said, her face breaking out into a huge grin. "His email last month said he was planning on relocating, but I didn't know it was this soon."

"Tommy and Haley helped him with the necessary, um, paperwork," Adam laughed as the two of them stood up and stretched.

"You mean fabricated paper work, don't you?" she laughed and Adam shrugged. "I doubt Billy's happy about breaking laws."

"That's why Haley did it," Adam chuckled, nodding his agreement with the former yellow ranger. "Well, since there's nothing we can do about the stupid device, I guess we'd better head back upstairs."

"But it's so peaceful down here," Trini whined slightly. Adam laughed at her, shaking his head as the two of them reluctantly headed back up the stairs into the main portion of the house.

* * *

Ok, so that's the end of the enlightenment of Tommy arc. I know this wasn't the talk you were all hoping for, but this fic is about more than just our Falcon and Crane. I love examining the relationships between each of the rangers, so in this chapter you got a bit of insight into Adam's relationship with Kira, as well as his and Trini's relationship. Both individuals were Billy's right hand, though they never served together, so I felt it was important to show their interaction. For those of you who are worried about the Adam/Kira thing - don't be. 1) I'm not big on age gap. 2) Adam belongs with Tanya. 3) Tanya likes Kira and is not jealous of her in any way. 4) Adam feels like a big brother to Kira, end of story. And yes - I am planning a story set post Once A Ranger within this universe. Just not exactly sure how its going to go yet.

Also, the plot bunny pretty much shut down Justin showing up in this fic. The main reason - he can't show up and fix things before Billy gets there otherwise the plot gets ruined. So I had to send Justin on a back packing trip through Europe. All hope of his showing up isn't lost, but at this point, it is highly unlikely. However, again, I have a few future fics for this universe planned - one being Adam and Tanya's wedding, so Justin will show there. Still not sure about Kat yet. We'll see what type of carrots my plot bunnies want to eat for this fic.

Finally, as always cause I'm super excited about it - Plug for The Order. We now know a little about 4 characters (if you follow a bunch of facebook pages like I do) - Varus, Kane, Jack, and Dax. I am totally team Kane (clearly) and I definitely think he's a flipflopper, so I'm all for order AND chaos. How about you guys?

Thanks for helping me hit 100 reviews early. And Thanks in advance for any other reviews you might send.

Fateless


	11. Chapter 11

So, Chapter 11 is officially the longest. It beats Chapter 5 by 700 words. LOL, not a whole lot, but still longer. Looking back, Chapter 1 was the shortest as just over 5000 words. After that, every other chapter has been between 7K and 11K words. So I'm rather proud. If this story ends up being as long as Chronology Conundrum in chapters, it could potentially reach close to 500K words.

Thank you for all your support of the last ten chapters. Reading your reviews, seeing what you like, what your opinions are, what are your guesses, etc. They mean the world to me. So thank you so much. Chaos begins to resume next chapter, so enjoy the calm and emotional stuff while it lasts.

Typical plug for The Order just in case this is the first time you're reading an AN. They announced this morning that there's another cast member. I'm hoping for Jason Narvy. LOL.

Anyway, happy reading.

* * *

Kim sighed and walked into the empty living room, a large, rounded mug in her hands. She took a long sip off the hot liquid inside, and gazed around. There were drink cups scattered around, and several photo frames had been knocked over. A few sofa cushions were overturned, and none of the pillows were in their proper places. Most were scattered around the floor. She let a gentle smile form on her lips, as she walked over to the stereo and turned it on. One of her favorite albums started to play, just instrumental, no lyrics, and she lowered the volume so that it created background noise. After all of the commotion of the day, silence was a bit unnerving. She took another sip from her mug, picked up one of the pillows off the floor, and fell into the arm chair, pulling her knees in close to her chest and looking around the room, reflecting on the evening.

She'd been grateful that Jason, Trini, and Zack had dropped what they were doing to come to the teens' rescue the day before. She was even more grateful that they'd chosen to stay, even though their help wasn't crucial anymore. She'd missed them all. And when everyone else had arrived, it felt like her family was being put back together. There were only a few individuals missing; unfortunately one of those was Tommy.

Dinner had gone relatively smoothly. Smooth was a rare word when there were thirteen former rangers, plus two toddlers, and an infant present in one location. She would take what she could get. Aside from a few small arguments between Katie and Tyler, and a few not so quiet ribbings between Connor, Rocky, Zack, and Tommy, the entire night had been nice. They'd joked and reminisced; they'd teased one another, and Rocky had determined that aside from the obvious ranger related chaos, it was a nice start to their somewhat normal reunion. Kim sipped her mug, a half-smile on her face as she realized that she had to agree with the former red ranger's assessment. She just wished the ranger related chaos hadn't been involved.

The sun had fully set about an hour before, casting the room into shadow. The only light came from the back porch through the glass door. Kim reached up and turned on of the table lamps in the room on, replacing both hands around her mug as she checked the clock. It was just about ten at night. Most of the others had left after dinner. Rocky, Adam, Aisha, and Tanya hadn't checked into the hotel yet, and they wanted to get settled, especially since Katie was getting cranky again and Luke was getting a bit fussy. Trini and Jason conceded that they should probably get Tyler to bed early if they were hitting the beach in the morning, and Zack had left with them, not having a vehicle of his own present. That had left Kim alone with Tommy and the dino thunder teenagers. She'd sent the five of them out into the backyard, citing the fact that they'd spent the day cleaning the house – she'd clean up the remnants of the group's dinner. In truth, she needed to be alone, or rather, not in a space with her regressed boyfriend.

Kim had used the alone time to think things through. She was still debating how she felt about Tommy's accident. She was angry, amused, sad, and terrified all at once. Angry because things could never go right when it came to Tommy. She wondered if he would ever be able to distance himself from Rangers and their technology. She wondered if they could ever live a relatively normal life. Amused because, well, she didn't have to waste time explaining that one to herself. Her nearly twenty eight year old boyfriend had regressed himself into a teenage boy, nerves, hormones, and all. She really hoped that he remembered this little adventure, as she was looking forward to teasing him about it for years to come. Sad was easily explained as well; she hadn't seen him in two weeks. They'd said it on the phone just the day before. It was the longest they'd been apart since they'd finally reunited and admitted that they still loved each other. Kim felt she'd lost so much time because of that damn letter and her fears. She hated that they were losing more time now. And then there was terrified. Everyone else had so much confidence in the fact that this was just temporary. That Haley or Billy would arrive and it would all be fixed. No one doubted it. Except her. She worried. What if this was permanent? What if Billy and Haley couldn't figure out what had happened? What if this was the time that the ranger chaos went beyond their abilities to fix things? She felt the tears threatening to come and she started to let them, noticing one fall from her face and send ripples through her drink when it landed in her mug.

The only thing that stopped them was the sound of the glass door sliding open, and the light turning off. She immediately wiped her eyes and looked up in the direction of the door to see Tommy entering alone. She blinked a few times realizing that of course they were alone. The real teenagers had homes to go to, and everyone else was staying at the hotel, at least until Billy got there. She composed herself, and gave him a gentle smile.

"Everyone else head home for the night?" she asked him, noticing that Tommy seemed a bit more relaxed than he had previously around the teenagers. The boy nodded, and walked into the living room, sitting down on the sofa, his legs spread apart and his hands clasped on his knees. She watched him for a few moments, letting silence over take them again, knowing that the situation was awkward. He remembered her as a perky fifteen year old girl. She wished he was her strong handsome, grown man. Neither saw what they wanted it the other at the moment.

"What are you drinking?" Tommy spoke up, asking anything to break the silence that had taken over them. Without anyone else there were no distractions. Kimberly gave him a kind smile in return, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Tea," she replied. "There's some more in the kitchen if you'd like some," she added with a slight laugh as his face clearly rejected that idea. Even as an adult, Tommy never wanted anything weaker than coffee. Heaven forbid anyone slip him decaf in the morning and they were in for a world of hurt for the remainder of the day. Silence quickly replaced their interaction, and Kim exhaled loudly. "You ok?" she asked the boy, knowing that the answer was probably a negative.

Tommy shrugged in response. He looked up and met her eyes. Something had been bugging him since he'd stormed out of the house that afternoon, but he hadn't wanted to bring it up around everyone else. They were already making fun of him enough. He didn't need them to have any insight into how he was feeling about his relationship with Kimberly. Tommy sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Can we talk?"

"Uh oh," Kim laughed slightly, trying to not show how tense she was. "This doesn't sound good," she added, giving him a hesitant smile. Tommy shook his head, clearly not allowing her to distract him. Kim sighed and sat up in the chair, setting her mug to the side. She crossed her legs in front of herself and sat Indian style in the chair, clasping her hands in front of her. "Sure, what's up?" she asked him, not knowing if she was going to like the thoughts swimming around in his head.

"I… I don't even know how to start," Tommy told her, blushing and looking back down at his feet. Talking to her when there were others around had been easy. He closed his eyes for a moment and looked back up, trying to imagine the woman in front of him as fifteen year old Kim. She smiled at him, and that actually helped to relax him a bit. She still had the same smile. The one she'd given him in the hallway of Angel Grove High the day they'd met.

"At the beginning is always a good idea," Kim chuckled, getting a slightly hostile look from Tommy in return. She sighed. "Seriously, you should know you can tell me anything," she encouraged him. "No one else is here, and I won't make fun of you," she added in.

"We've always had feelings for each other, haven't we?" he blurted out. "I mean, you obviously know I like you, even now, I mean, when I was really fifteen," he added in, his eyes darting from her face back to his feet as if he didn't want to watch her reaction.

Of course that's where his line of questioning was going to go. She'd never had any doubts he'd ask about their relationship. Part of her wanted to keep bits and pieces of it to herself, maybe save him the pain of knowing the whole truth, but a larger side of her valued honesty and knew he would as well. However, his first question was easy. "I think I've liked you longer than you liked me," she told him with a gentle laugh in her voice. "After all," she went on, "it was hard for you to notice anyone during your sparing match with Jason."

"But…" he stated, looking up at her in surprise. "You didn't even know me yet?" he questioned.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked him, knowing the answer. Tommy gave her a slight smile in return.

"So we've been together a long time then?" he asked her. "Longer than Jason and Trini?" he questioned, gauging her reaction with his eyes. There was a hidden meaning to his question, and he wondered if she'd catch it.

Kim sighed, and nodded. She knew what he was getting at, but that traitorous part of her didn't want to tell him unless he outright asked. She tried to stay as neutral as possible. "You asked me out a few months after joining the team," Kimberly confirmed for him. "You kissed me first, I might add," she put in with a bit of a laugh, remembering their first kiss beside the lake. "So yeah," she stated. "We've been together longer than Jason and Trini."

"Then," he began, and his cheeks turned bright red. He wanted to know there was something normal about his future. But he was fifteen. Talking about things normal adults did was more embarrassing than being regressed in front of his friends. More embarrassing than appearing a child in the eyes of the girl he liked. Or rather the woman he knew he loved. Tommy hesitated, unable to bring himself to formulate the words to his question. He needed to know, but he couldn't ask her. He glanced from his feet to her eyes, wondering if she could read his mind.

Kimberly sighed, and shook her head slightly. She knew exactly what he was asking her, and she didn't relish the thought of telling him the answer. "Why aren't we married as well?" she added, purposely leaving out the addition of Tyler. The teenager was already beat red at the mention of matrimony; she hated to see what would happen if she added in reproduction.

"Is it because I was still a ranger?" he asked her, nodding in response to her question. He looked up at her, and she saw both hope and fear. She honestly wasn't sure what he wanted her answer to be. At that moment, she wanted to throw the honesty card out the window and tell him that was exactly it. That they were waiting until he was no longer a ranger. That they'd never been apart. That they hadn't lost all that precious time.

"Partially," she finally replied, looking away from his eyes and down at her lap. She wrapped her arms around her torso and looked up to see that he was frowning at her. His response didn't surprise her. He wanted more. "We broke up," she admitted, although that was putting it mildly. "I… I broke up with you. I was afraid you'd get hurt trying to rescue me one day," she explained. Tommy looked down at his lap. He was terrified of asking her out. And now he knew that when he did, she would eventually break up with him. His insides were screaming in pain; he felt his heart break. He ran his hand over his face, brushing away any tears she might have seen. This Kimberly expected a grown man. He was not going to embarrass himself by crying in front of her.

"When you stopped being a ranger and gave your power coin to that Katherine girl in the video?" Tommy asked looking up at her frowning, determined to understand. He didn't take his eyes off Kimberly. She nodded once, reluctantly. "There's more to her than just another ranger, isn't there?" Tommy asked, his eyes showing concern. His gut told him Kat was important, but the hesitant look in her eyes, said that Kimberly might not want to tell him. Still, Tommy instinctively knew, Kim would be his only source of information on this front. He knew none of the others would talk to him about it.

"Yes," Kimberly told him, forcing a weak smile, and wondering if she actually had the emotional strength to answer his question. She'd already resolved that she wasn't going to lie to him. But beyond the one word, she didn't know what to tell him. How to tell him. He was fifteen. He was clearly already in love with her, and well, at fifteen, you tend to think things are going to last forever. Break ups, growing apart, other relationships are not typically part of the equation. Still, he hadn't broken down when she'd told him that they would break up. She looked up to meet his eyes, for the first time since Friday night feeling like the shy reluctant one in the relationship at the moment. Tommy raised an eyebrow, clearly asking her for more of an explanation. Kimberly sighed. "You'll date her too," she told him.

"Do I love her?" Tommy asked. For a fifteen year old, it was a simple question, which in his mind should have a yes or no answer. You date someone usually because you're really like them, or probably even love. Well, a fifteen year old definition of love. To Tommy, at the moment, love had one definition, while for Kim, and most of the other adults, it was a multifaceted term with so many different expressions.

Kim exhaled sharply and shook her head, unsure where she should even start. She looked up again and met his eyes. He seriously thought his question was easy. She gave him a small smile. "Honestly," Kim told him. "I don't know. It's a question you'll have to answer yourself when we get you all grown up again," she added, her smile clearly not reaching her eyes. But Tommy studied her for a moment, a deep frown on his face as he processed her answer.

He wondered if she was telling him that it was possible to love two people at the same time. However, he wasn't an adult. His mind wasn't capable of thinking that way. Instead, he asked the only question that mattered at that moment. "Do you hate her?" Clearly he and Kim were together when he grew up, even though they'd broken up. That confused him a little bit. He didn't completely understand how you could decide you didn't love someone and then decide you love them again. Fifteen years was not a lot of time for mental growth. Still, if he and Kim were together, it only made sense that Kat wasn't in the picture. It made sense why everyone of his other teammates was at the reunion; Justin didn't count because Adam had said he was back packing through Europe. So there had to be a reason Kat wasn't there. However, he suddenly thought, what if it wasn't Kim who hated Katherine. What if it was him? "Do I hate her?" he added in before Kimberly could answer his first question.

"Oh handsome," Kimberly stated, seeing the look of panic in his eyes. "No," she told him gently. "Neither of us hates Kat, I can assure you of that," she told him, letting a small smile grace her lips.

"But I dated her after you?" Tommy argued. He was pretty sure he would hate anyone who dated Kimberly that wasn't him, even if it was Jason, Zack, or Billy. Kim chuckled slightly, shaking her head. He'd just reminded her that he definitely, one hundred percent, was a young teenager.

"Tommy," she told him. "People grow up, and sometimes they drift apart before they find their way back together. While they're apart, other people come into their lives. There's no reason to hate anyone for just being there and living," she told him, although when she looked up and met his eyes, she could tell he didn't understand. "Kat was there for you during a time when I wasn't. She was good for you. She made you happy, and that's what matters to me. I could never hate her. I chose her to be a ranger," she added, stressing the word 'I'.

"So why did I break up with her, if I don't hate her either," Tommy asked, frowning, trying to figure out the adult concepts. He wasn't succeeding so well. Kim's words didn't make a whole lot of sense to him. He wouldn't tell her, but he was pretty sure, that even when he was pushing thirty, he'd be trying to discover a way to summon the dragonzord to destroy anyone who had ever so much as looked at Kimberly – whether they were together at the time or not.

Kim laughed again lightly and shook her head. "I don't know that either. Only you and Kat do," she told him. "If I had to guess," Kim continued, "I'd say you weren't meant to be forever, just for a little while."

"So why isn't she here?" Tommy stated, and Kim sighed. She hated that question, because the answer wasn't unique to Kat alone. Kat was missing for the same reason that Jason, Trini, and Zack hadn't been invited to the reunion. Kat was missing for the same reason that four months ago, Rocky, Aisha, Adam, and Tanya weren't in his life. Kat was missing for the same reason that Tommy and Kim hadn't spoken in eight years.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" Kimberly asked him, knowing the answer would hurt him. She wouldn't lie to him, but she didn't want to purposely hurt him. However, Tommy just fixed his eyes on her and nodded once.

Kimberly sighed and shook her head, searching for the right words. Fifteen, she reminded herself. He was only fifteen. What could he handle? Granted, none of them had been ordinary fifteen year olds. Tommy was already battling the mental scars left over from having been the evil green ranger, but still. He didn't need anymore. "You saw in the video how you were a ranger the longest? How the teams changed around you?" she asked him, and Tommy nodded once, letting her know he was following her. "And we told you how, Jason and I, powerless, were kidnapped?" she asked him.

"I didn't want that to keep happening, did I?" Tommy asked, and Kim gave him a gentle smile, realizing that Tommy had figured it out. "If I'm a ranger, and no one else is, they could get hurt."

"That's how you felt, yeah," Kimberly stated. "You just started letting everyone else back in. You haven't reached out to Kat yet," she told him, watching as he wrapped his mind around what she'd just told him.

"Ok. When did we start dating again?" he asked, calmly, though his insides were in chaos. He needed this answer. If he'd just started letting his friends back in, what about Kimberly? What did that mean?

"Four months ago," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper. Tommy blinked. He was still in high school when Kim left the team. His mind raced as he did the math. They would be apart almost ten years. He felt a pit form in the center of his stomach as he watched tears well up in Kim's eyes. He fought hard to keep them out of his own. He shut his eyes, and turned away from her, inhaling and exhaling slowly as he fought to get himself under control. They were both silent for a while before Tommy looked back over at her. She'd managed to compose herself as well.

"Do you regret it?" he asked her, unsure of the answer. It was a simple, yet loaded question, and Kim knew that she needed to give him the right answer. Again, she wondered, how much of this adventure Tommy would remember if (no, when, she chastised herself) they got him back to normal. She looked up from studying her lap and made eye contact with him.

Her mind went over the last ten years of her life. Living in Florida alone save her gymnastics team and her coach. Being kidnapped by Divatox with Jason. Returning to Florida, true feelings unspoken. College and three years of trips to Reefside searching for him. Being kept away from him by Haley, who knew the hurt and pain she'd once been the cause of. Being kidnapped by Mesogog. Stabbing him with a shank while rolling on the floor, lust seeping through every vein of her being, while feeling nothing stronger than hate. All while Jason had gone on to admit feelings for Trini and married her. Kim had been maid of honor at that wedding. She'd been a bridesmaid at Aisha's to Rocky. She'd been present the day after Tyler was born. She'd met Katie only a few days after Aisha had made it home from the hospital. She'd sent a celebratory text message when Adam told her he had proposed to Tanya. They'd all had their milestones. "Yes," she told him, watching his eyes flicker with recognition. "And no," she added, reluctantly. Tommy frowned in response. "I regret the pain our break up caused both of us," she told him, trying to elaborate on her answer. "I regret the amount of time that passed without you as a part of my life."

"Isn't that enough?" Tommy asked her with all the wisdom of a fifteen year old faced with the prospect of losing his first love.

Kimberly shook her head and stood up, walking over to him. She sat down on the sofa beside him, taking his hand in her own. At this age, he was only just slightly taller than she was. His eyes showed her his innocence to the world. Sure he'd been the evil green ranger, but he hadn't experienced much else. "I don't regret how my life has gone," she told him gently. "There's been a lot of good in the middle as well," she added in. "And things happened for a reason."

"Like what?" Tommy stated. "What could possibly be worth us not being together?"

"I didn't say that I thought us not being together was a good thing," Kimberly told him as gently as she could without being too soft. She needed him to understand that she was serious "I said there might have been a reason for it. If we'd been together, you might never have gone to college; might never have become a teacher; might never have discovered the dino gems that made Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent into rangers," she told him. Tommy frowned, removing his hand from hers. He was fifteen. He didn't care much about that. He cared about her and him, and their friends. "They're a part of our family, and I couldn't imagine life without them."

"You couldn't?" Tommy asked her, letting her words sink in. Kim smiled and shook her head. She turned to face him.

"As much as I wish we'd never been apart, Tommy," Kimberly told him. "I wouldn't change how our life turned out. Things don't always go according to plan," she explained. "But that doesn't mean they're wrong. Everything happens for a reason, even if its unexpected." she added, "Do you understand?"

"I guess," Tommy whispered. He wasn't entirely sure from the look in her eyes that Kimberly was talking about their break up. She seemed like she wanted to tell him something, but couldn't find the words.

"Good," she stated, a slight smile on his lips. She pressed her forehead against his for a moment, before placing her hands on either side of his face. She kissed his forehead gently and then when he was stunned, smirked and stood up, stretching. She walked back to her seat and grabbed her now much cooler mug of tea, before moving toward the stereo and turning it off. She then proceeded to the hall that led to the house's two bedrooms. "Don't stay up to late," she told him calmly. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day," she added, leaving him sitting alone on the sofa, still surprised by her actions.

* * *

The day promised to be another hot one in Reefside, although maybe not entirely scorching. It was already over eighty degrees and it wasn't quite ten in the morning when Kira, dressed in a black and yellow bikini, a beach bag slung over her arm, walked beside Trent, clad solely in white swim trunks and a tank top, toward a spot right at the center of the beach where three umbrellas were already set up forming three corners of a square. Beneath the umbrellas, several blankets and towels had been spread out. A few beach chairs with occupants had sanctuary beneath the shaded canopy as well. "Hey guys!" Kira called out when she and Trent reached a respectable shouting distance so that they wouldn't disturb anyone else nearby.

"Tent!" the small girl wearing a one piece red bathing suit with yellow and black polka dots that had a picture of Minnie Mouse on the front, shouted back, dropping the hot pink pail she'd be holding and raced towards the teenagers, Rocky, wearing a pair of red and orange swim trunks, shirt already discarded, and a pair of black sunglasses over his eyes, followed behind her. "Up! Up!" Katie demanded when she reached Trent. Rocky laughed at his daughter's antics and took the fourth beach umbrella and two beach chairs that the teenager was carrying from him so that he could obey the commands of the toddler.

"Hi Katie," Trent laughed when he'd gotten the small girl to eyelevel, following Kira and Rocky back over to the rest of the group at the umbrellas. Kimberly and Trini occupied two of the beach chairs. Both had their flip flops off, resting off to the sides. Kim wore a bikini in a pale baby pink with a few white accents, and a white straw beach hat with a pink flower on it, while Trini wore a one piece in yellow that was mesh across her stomach. Her hair was pulled back and braided down her back. Beside them, in a shaded spot on the beach towel, Aisha sat, legs crisscrossed, five month old Luke in her lap, leaning against her stomach and chest. She wore a two piece tankini suit that had a yellow top and black bottoms. Luke wore a pale blue pair of swim trunks over his swim diaper, and a matching swim top. He had a matching sun hat on his head, despite being in the shade, which fastened under his chin. Aisha was holding a flat sand and water toy in her hands that was filled with water. The baby was happily splashing in it. Standing off to the side, digging through the cooler the group had brought with them was Zack. He'd discarded his shirt like Rocky, although he still wore a pair of sandals on his feet. His suit was a deep purple in color with black accents running through it. "What are you doing?"

"Go in wotew," Katie told him happily, clapping her hands. "Tent come?" she asked him, a quizzical look on her face.

"Give him a minute Katie," Rocky laughed at his daughter as he set the chairs down. Kira began setting them up near Kim and Trini, while Zack moved to help Rocky with the fourth umbrella, holding the bottle of water he'd retrieved in his mouth so he could have two free hands. "He just got here," he told his daughter, while Trent nodded, casting a look around for everyone else, as he set the toddler down near her mother.

Jason, wearing black and red checkered swim trunks, and Tommy, clad in an olive green pair were down near the surf, watching Tyler attempt to jump over waves as they broke on the beach. The boy was squatting down low, the bottoms of his blue swim trunks touching the sand before he launched himself into the air, laughing each time. Tanya and Adam were laying on their stomachs on beach towels out in the sun, propped up on their elbows, talking quietly to each other while they watched. Adam's suit was a dark hunter green with black abstract accents running through it, while Tanya's bikini was a muted gold color with copper metal circles on the hips and in the center of her chest. Both wore a pair of black sunglasses over their eyes. Connor and Ethan hadn't arrived yet, but that didn't surprise him.

"Wotew now?" Katie asked impatiently, looking out towards Jason, Tommy, and Tyler, envy clear in her tiny face.

"Ok, ok," Trent laughed, offering his hand to the girl. "Kira coming?" he asked his girlfriend who shook her head. Katie latched onto his hand and began pulling on it.

"Nah," she laughed, noticing that Katie was struggling with all her strength to get the teenager to move. She'd dug her heels into the sand. "I think your girlfriend wants your attention," she teased him, sliding a fly away strand of hair out of her face and settling into one of the beach chairs she'd just set up, as Aisha, Trini, and Kim laughed along with her. "Isn't that right Katie?" she asked the small girl. "Is Trent your boyfriend?"

"Bofend," Katie giggled, giving up pulling and latching onto Trent's leg. Trent chuckled nervously, running his hand over the back of his head, as Rocky shot him a look.

"Over my dead body," the former red ranger stated, a bit too loudly, so that his voice reached his best friend and his fiancé, reaching down and pulling his daughter off of the teenage boy. He tossed her in the air once, caught her and tucked her under his arm.

"What happens over Rocky's dead body?" Adam called out, twisting so that he was looking over his shoulder back at the group under the beach umbrellas. He had his sunglasses raised with one hand and had cocked one eyebrow in question. He was slightly concerned that they were talking about rangers dying, but seeing as there weren't any monsters (or salon looking chairs in Tommy's case) he wasn't immensely worried.

"Katie has a boyfriend," Kimberly called out to him, and Adam's amused expression changed to a frown as he studied the group, eyeing Trent carefully. Trent shrugged his shoulders, while the four women began to laugh.

"I concur with Rocky," Adam stated simply. "She's not allowed to date. She's going to be a nun," he concluded.

"Sounds good to me," Rocky replied, chuckling. He looked down at his daughter who squirmed in his arms. He tickled her with the other hand, causing an eruption of giggles.

"So glad you two have decided my daughter's future," Aisha stated, a smirk on her face as she rolled her eyes. Luke continued to splash in the water plate she was holding. "Not all guys are horrible; some us decided to marry you guys after all," she informed them.

"Ok," Rocky stated, reluctantly. "She can marry a power ranger," he laughed, lifting Katie up so she was eye level and rubbing his nose against hers. "Got that. You can find and marry a power ranger," he told his daughter. "But no one else. Don't even bring them home; and you are still not allowed to date."

"Pow Ranger," Katie mimicked, giggling, and clapping her hands against Rocky's cheeks. "K," she added, knowing she needed to provide her father with some type of answer that showed him she was listening.

"Preferably red," Rocky added on, grinning over at Aisha who just rolled her eyes at him. She shifted Luke so that he sat on one of her legs, and wrapped one arm around him, holding the water toy with the other so that he could continue to splash.

"Wotew now?" Katie whined getting restless. "Tent come!" she added.

"Alright, monkey," Rocky conceded. "Water now," he added, looking over at Trent. "You can come, but only because I don't want her to cry," he told the teenager, giving him a mock glare. Trent laughed in response and nodded.

"I'll come too," Zack stated. "Someone's gotta show Tyler how to jump the waves better than that," he added, nodding toward the surf. "Adam, coming?" he called out as the three men and one giggling child passed the two on the beach towels.

"Nah," Adam replied. He'd gone back to laying down beside Tanya who had her head on the towel, turned towards him. "I'm good here," he added in, as Tanya gave him a slight sleepy smile and reached her hand out to grasp his.

"Poor Katie," Kimberly laughed once Rocky, Zack, and Trent were out of ear shot. "She's going to have it rough when she grows up," she added in, shaking her head, and removing her sun hat. She set it next to her on top of her flip flops.

"I count at least six body guards," Kira laughed, holding up six fingers. Aisha gave her a quizzical look. "Rocky, Adam, Dr. O," she listed off. "Connor, Trent, and something tells me Lukey's not going to let anyone near his sister," she laughed, leaning over and holding the baby's hand. "Isn't that right handsome boy?" she asked the baby who giggled. Aisha lifted him off her lap and held him out to the yellow clad teenager who gladly took him. Kira tickled his belly, before accepting his toy from Aisha, who stood up and stretched, before going over to the cooler.

"I dunno," Aisha laughed, as she reached inside and pulled out a bottle of water. "They'll deny it if you ask them," she stated quietly so Adam wouldn't hear, "but Katie's got them wrapped around her pinky. If she wants to date, I don't think even they would stop her," she laughed, taking another of the beach chairs and stretching out her legs, as the other ladies laughed in response, before dissolving into small conversations.

"Kira," Kim suddenly asked, her eyes going wide. The guys had taken Katie to the water almost thirty minutes before. "I just remembered, there was something I needed to ask you," she stated.

"Hmm?" Kira responded, looking up from where she was playing with Luke on her lap. She frowned slightly, unsure of where this was going. She didn't think there was anything about the current situation that she knew and Ethan, Connor, and Trent didn't. "What's up?"

"After I told Connor he could live yesterday," Kim chuckled, "he said something about you wanting to kill him. Tommy knows why, but they didn't tell me. What else did Connor do?" she asked, raising on eyebrow at the girl. Aisha's expression was questioning as well, while Trini looked confused for a moment, before breaking out into a grin. "You know too?" Kim asked her first female teammate. She wasn't sure she liked that there was something Connor should die of that involved Tommy, Kira, and Trini. Granted, her mind wasn't finding any possible scenarios.

"Oh that," Kira laughed, although she made a strange face that sort of resembled disgust. "I'd really rather not say. It's kind of disturbing really," she added in, shrugging her shoulders at the same time as she shuddered at whatever she was thinking about.

"I'll tell," Trini laughed, while Kira just shook her head with a sigh. Trini seemed a bit too entertained by the idea. If she didn't know any better, she could have sworn the first yellow ranger was enjoying her misery slightly.

"Go on," Kim replied with a giggle. She took a sip of water from her own water bottle that she had in her lap.

"Well, after meeting us Friday evening," the Asian woman explained, unable to keep herself from grinning. "Connor decided there was a particular pattern among former red and yellow rangers," she laughed. Kim frowned for a moment, puzzled, before laughing hysterically.

"Oh god," the only individual present clad in pink stated, through giggles. "He didn't!" The thought was hilarious, although she realized, that for Kira, it would be like someone suggesting she was destined to end up with Jason or Zack or Billy, but mostly Jason. While now, the idea was completely off limits for obvious reasons (one of which was that polygamy was illegal), as a teenager, she would have been completely freaked out by the idea of dating someone that had been like a brother to her. Tommy had never been her brother figure, despite the lie she'd added into her letter. It had been easy to pull that one into the script as she actually lived that relationship with Jason, Zack, Billy, Rocky, and Adam. Kira had a similar relationship to Ethan and Connor. They were like her brothers, and then again, Connor was extra special, in a not to be dated by Kira kind of way.

"Didn't help that Zack thought it was a good idea to bring up Andros and Ashley as well," Trini laughed, nodding as she noticed Kira had a slight grin on her face, though it was kind of a pale green color.

Aisha seemed to have caught on to what the teenage former red ranger had been thinking as well, and her mouth hung open. "That boy has a death wish for sure," she laughed, shaking her head.

"You poor thing," Kim laughed, patting Kira's arm. Kira sighed and shook her head, laughing with the other girl. She had to admit it was funny, even if the idea grossed her out to extreme levels. Possibly vomit in the ranger helmet levels, had she still had the ability to morph.

"Girl," Aisha stated with a laugh. "I'll help you kill him if you need to. Pretty sure Tanya would to, considering he'd be implying that Tommy should have ended up with her." Kira frowned for a minute, not catching on to what Aisha meant. "Red and Yellow Zeo, and the first Turbo," she stated, purposely leaving out the word ranger in that context. She wasn't concerned about Rocky's quite loud proclamation about Katie's future husband earlier. She doubted anyone would think twice about a father telling his daughter she was only allowed to marry red power rangers.

"Actually," Tanya laughed, walking over, having heard the last portion of the conversation. "I'll help when I'm done gagging; no offense Kim." She'd left Adam out in the sun. He'd apparently fallen asleep.

"None taken," Kimberly stated, as she let her laughter die down into light giggles. "Oh man," she stated, "I needed that laugh. You still going to hurt him?" she asked the teenager.

"Only if he brings it up again," Kira confirmed with a nod. "Or if he continues to harass Dr. O too much," she added in and the other women nodded. Luke chose that moment to spit up slightly and start to cry. "And on that note," Kira stated, grimacing slightly. Aisha chuckled, and Trini reached her arms out to take the baby from the teenager. "All yours guys," Kira laughed, standing up and heading out onto the beach. Tanya fell into her vacated chair, reaching toward Aisha and taking the spit cloth she was holding, offering it out to Trini who gave her a smile of thanks as she cleaned up the baby boy.

"Up and at'em, frog boy," they laughed when Kira's voice reached them from not far away. She was nudging Adam awake with her foot.

"Why?" Adam replied, groaning before pushing himself to his knees and tilting his head up towards the teenager who stood with her hand on her hips, grinning at him. The other four former female rangers were pretty sure that he was glaring at her.

"Because you're coming with me down to the water," she replied simply, shaking her head as if it was the most obvious thing in the entire world.

"I don't want to go in the water," Adam retorted simply, frowning at her. "You're a grown up. You can go on your own. Besides, aren't your friends down there?"

"Just Trent," Kira laughed. "Come on! Your spirit animal is an amphibian, isn't it; you're supposed to love water," she argued with him, grabbing hold of his wrist and pulling on him, reminiscent of how Katie had been tugging on Trent earlier.

"That's freshwater," Adam told her, stumbling forward, as he placed one foot under his body to start to stand up. As much as he was protesting moving, he wasn't all that reluctant. Additionally, she wasn't your ordinary eighteen year old girl, and he hadn't been expecting her to put that much strength into her pulling.

"Same difference," Kira laughed, smirking at him, and pulling on his wrist again. "Now come on!"

"Alright already," Adam sighed and laughed. He cast a helpless look back over his shoulder at the other girls sitting in the shade. Trini and Kim were giggling. Aisha and Tanya, each smirked at him and gave him a taunting wave goodbye. They all broke down laughing when he muttered "traitors," before falling into step beside Kira.

"Katie's not the only one with body guards," Trini laughed, raising her eyebrow as they watched the two walk off, joking as they went. Kira shoved Adam's shoulder, and he shoved her back before taking off at a bit of a run, Kira chasing him.

"Nope," Tanya laughed, a dreamy look on her face as she watched her fiancé with the teenager. She turned to the other women with a smile on her lips. "It's sweet really. He treats her like a little sister," she added in.

"Heaven help Trent if he ever hurts her," Kim laughed. "He'll have to deal with both Tommy and Adam," she added in, getting nods and winces in response from the other girls.

"You think she has any clue how protective they feel towards her?" Aisha asked Kim, who shook her head.

"Not at all," Kim replied, with a giggle. "That girl is so independent, I doubt she even realizes that there are guys in her life he would protect her with everything they have," she explained. Her expression suggested she wasn't exactly thinking about Kira. Instead, her mind was on a certain individual had had often gone above and beyond to protect her. And if she were honest with herself, she had more than one individual in her life that would.

"We're all pretty lucky in that department," Trini laughed, "Aren't we?" she cast her eyes down to the beach where all of the guys were, minus the missing teenage former blue and red rangers, were playing with Katie and Tyler.

"Absolutely," Kim, Aisha, and Tanya stated at once, before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

* * *

Ethan and Connor had shown up, not surprisingly, as the group was sitting down to a lunch of cold cut sandwiches around lunch time, wearing swim suits and t-shirts in their respective colors. Ethan apologized for being late, citing his parents requesting he start packing some of his belongings for MIT in the fall. While Adam, Rocky, Tanya, and Aisha all began to congratulate the teen, they noticed the slightly dejected looks on Connor, Kira, and Trent's faces at the mention of the topic, and quickly dropped it. College, while an amazing opportunity, was apparently, a sore subject for the recently depowered rangers. Connor's excuse was much less forgivable, as he'd just decided to sleep in, and had woken up hungry.

As lunch finished up, Rocky fell into one of the beach chairs, rocking Luke who was starting to cry. "Shhh, buddy, it's alright," he told him gently. "Adam," he asked, looking up at his best friend who had his eyes on Katie and Tyler. The two toddlers were sitting just outside the umbrellas' coverage in the sand, playing with Tyler's plastic dinosaur toys. He took his eyes off them for a moment to look back at his Rocky. "Could you get him a bottle for me?" he asked and Adam nodded, frowning back towards the kids.

"I got them, Adam," Jason stated, coming up behind him from where he'd been helping Zack, Connor, Ethan, Trent, and Tommy clean up from their picnic lunch. He handed the trash he held in his hands off to Ethan, who held one of the large black trash bags that the group had thought to bring with them.

"Thanks," Adam replied with a nod, as he turned his back on the toddlers and went to the diaper bag to get the formula divider. "Where'd the other girls go, anyway?"

"Bathroom," Jason, Zack, and Connor all replied at the same time, before smirking and laughing with everyone else.

"You mean they don't outgrow going in packs?" Tommy asked, a quizzical expression on his face. "I thought it was just a high school thing," he stated, looking quite bewildered off towards the direction the girls had gone.

"Sorry man," Zack laughed. "Girls will forever and ever not go to the bathroom alone."

"No one knows why," Rocky laughed, as Adam added the formula to a cool bottle filled with fresh water and shook it hard until it was mixed with ease of practice. He'd been babysitting Katie with Tanya since about a month after she was born. Bottles and diapers he could do, not that he wanted to emphasize those skills any time soon. "Thanks," Rocky muttered, coaxing Luke's mouth around the nipple of the bottle. Adam nodded in response.

"And I doubt anyone ever will," Adam replied, laughing. "Just something you've got to accept," he told Tommy with a grin on his face. Tommy smirked and shook his head.

"You can't be Tywannosowis; I am!" Tyler's shout broke through the conversation that the men were having. Jason sighed, as he watched his son snatch the plastic dinosaur out of Katie's hands, with his left hand. The boy drew his right hand up and smacked the girl's hands as hard as he could. Katie's eyes welled up with crocodile tears as she opened and closed her empty hands, and then began bawling.

"Damn it," Both Jason and Rocky muttered under their breaths so that the toddlers wouldn't hear, giving each other a weak apologetic smile. Rocky began to push himself out of the chair, using one hand to balance both Luke and the bottle in his mouth.

"I got it," Adam told him, shaking his head, and Rocky nodded, as Adam went to Katie and picked the sobbing girl up off the sand. Jason went over to Tyler and knelt down at his level, as Katie laid her head on Adam's shoulder and bouncing her lightly, he carried her back into the shade.

"He's good at that," Connor whispered to Ethan and Trent, who both nodded, clearly surprised, and not entirely sure what they would have done if Katie had been alone with just them.

"Ty," Jason asked the boy, taking the Tyrannosaurus toy out of his hands and placing it in the sand behind him. He then gripped both of the boy's wrists in one hand so that he couldn't turn his body away. As it was, the glaring child wouldn't meet his father's gaze. "I thought we talked about fighting with Katie yesterday," he asked the toddler.

"I wasn't fighting," Tyler defended himself. "She had my toy," he added in, pouting, a few tears now welling up in his own eyes as he realized he was in trouble.

"We've discussed sharing your toys before, haven't we?" Jason asked him, patience clear on his face.

"But I did shawe," Tyler argued, stomping his feet and causing sand to fly up slightly. He wiggled his hands out of Jason's grasp and crossed both of his small arms over his chest. "I let hew pway with all of them, but not Tywannosowis," he added in, and Jason sighed, shaking his head.

"Tyler," he started. "I know he's your favorite, but you have to share all your toys. Especially if she had him first. You know better than to grab or hit. Especially when someone is littler than you."

"But you hit Uncle Zack," Tyler defended, dropping his hands away from his chest and giving his father a quizzical look. Jason frowned, as Zack bit down on his lip, trying not to laugh. The four teenager's eyes went wide as it appeared that the toddler had just outsmarted his father. Adam had traded Katie for Luke, and Rocky was several yards away still trying to calm the little girl, while Adam finished feeding the baby his bottle. His eyes showed both surprise and amusement at Tyler's logic. When Jason looked at him and Zack for help, both former black rangers snickered slightly and shook their heads. Jason helped create the kid, he was his problem.

"I do not hit Uncle Zack," Jason stated, matter of factly, standing up and casting a look at the amused former black ranger in question. Zack just shrugged his shoulders. "It's called sparring," he told his child, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders and marching him into the shade of the umbrellas.

"What's the difference?" Tyler asked, frowning, and at that one, Zack and Adam both let out slight snickers. Jason glared at both of them, sighing and running his hand through his hair. Of course he had to have a child who had a comeback for everything. Why couldn't he have just been a quiet observer like his mother? Or the type to walk softly, but carry a big stick? No, he was a questioner. He was a smarty pants. Jason wondered if the morphing grid had a sense of humor when he'd agreed with Trini to give Tyler the middle name of William.

"When you spar, you have the permission of the other person involved, and you're practicing your skills and not trying to purposely hurt them," Jason informed the boy, pushing him into a seated position. Tyler was frowning up at Jason both in defiance, and not entirely understanding. "And you're going to sit there for a while," Jason told the boy.

"Why?" Tyler asked, glaring with all the ferocity that a just under four year old could manage. Jason sighed and sank into one of the beach chairs. Again with the questions. He'd often tried the "Because of I said so" answer, but Tyler would then just keep asking. Plus, Trini wanted him to explain things to the boy.

"Because you're in time out for hitting Katie," he told the boy, shaking his head. Tyler crossed his small arms over his chest and pouted, but didn't reply. Instead he turned his back on his father, glaring out at the ocean. "Why don't you guys head down to the water? We'll meet you there," Jason told Zack and the teenagers.

"Sure," Zack stated, understanding that Jason was hoping for less distraction for Tyler while the boy was being punished. "Come on gentlemen," he added in to the four teenagers, as he reached into one of the beach bags and pulled out a deflated beach ball. Ethan, Trent and Tommy began to follow willingly, while Connor stood still, looking back and forth between the ocean and the umbrellas where Adam had removed the bottle from Luke's open mouth, as the baby had fallen asleep, and was placing him in his baby carrier.

"Dude," Ethan stated, when Zack looked back at the former red ranger teen, an eyebrow raised in question. He pushed on Connor's shoulder, inching him closer to the water. "You need the practice. Can't have you drowning while we're not around next year."

"Yeah," Trent stated. "If you die," he added in with a chuckle. "I want to be around to watch," he added.

"Hysterical," Connor retorted, rolling his eyes, but he did begin to move his feet toward the ocean, shaking his head. "The entire lot of you," he added in, throwing his hands up in the air.

Rocky watched them go as he brought Katie back under the shade. She had cried herself to sleep on his shoulder. Sighing, he let himself sit gently down into one the chair that Adam had vacated. "Thanks, man," he told the former black ranger, who nodded once and took off after the others, leaving Rocky and Jason alone with the three children. He shifted Katie slowly so he wouldn't wake her and then gently laid her down on the towels at his feet.

"Hey man," Jason stated after they'd been silent for a few moments. Tyler had drawn his knees up into his chest and found a small uncovered patch of sand. He was scooping the sand up and letting it fall slowly out of his hands as he pouted. "I'm really sorry about that," he stated.

"It's not even an issue," Rocky told him, shaking his head. "Katie wasn't hurt. She's just overtired," he added in. He in no way blamed Jason for the actions of the toddlers.

"Too much sun," Jason replied with a nod, looking over at the boy who had curled his free hand around his knees and was resting his chin on it. "Tyler's had a bit too much of it, too," he stated. Rocky laughed and shook his head, when the toddler turned to glare at his father, not completely understanding. "Don't look at me like that," Jason told the boy.

"When's time out ovew?" the toddler pouted.

"Not until your mother gets back," Jason informed him, "and then I think it's going to be nap time as well," he added in.

"I don't wanna nap," Tyler protested, deepening his glare. Jason just raised his eyebrows at the boy.

"Tough," he stated, and Tyler spun back around to glare at the ocean. "You think we were ever like that?" he asked Rocky, who was chuckling slightly beside him. Jason stood up and went to the cooler. He grabbed two cans of beer and brought them back, handing one of them to Rocky who accepted it with a nod of thanks, as Jason returned to his seat.

"Us?" Rocky laughed, "Never. I'm sure we were perfect angels for our parents."

Jason laughed at that response and shook his head. "I can still hear my dad saying 'Just wait till you have kids. I hope they're just like you'," he stated, imitating his father's voice. Rocky snickered and shook his head. "Bastard," he muttered, a smirk on his lips, too quietly for Tyler to hear, but loud enough for Rocky beside him. He took a large sip off his beer. "I don't know what's gotten in to him lately," Jason sighed. "He's either acting incredibly shy and not saying a word, or he's starting fights and using his hands in ways I know I've never told him was acceptable."

"Sounds like most of our preschoolers," Rocky laughed, lowering his beer away from his mouth. He sat with his hands clasped in front of him between his knees, and turned to see the quizzical expression on Jason's face. Rocky had two children, and neither of them was old enough just yet to be considered preschool age. "At the dojo," Rocky clarified, reading his predecessor's confusion.

"Oh," Jason laughed, "right. So wait, this is normal?" he had his eyebrow cocked in question, the beer to his lips. His kid wasn't weird? Or dangerous? Or on the road to becoming Earth's next super villain bent on world domination? You know the normal things most parents worried about when it came to their children's behavior.

"Pretty much," Rocky laughed. "You taught kids," he reminded him. "You should know."

"Never this young. Tommy and I would usually get them during after school programs," Jason stated, shaking his head. "They listened better at that age, and I wasn't constantly reminding them that they don't snatch things or hit. Or when it's time to go use the damn toilet," he added in with a bit of a laugh. He loved his son, truly, but he really couldn't wait until the boy was a bit older.

"Yeah well," Rocky laughed, shaking his head. "At his age, you just have to make him think he's having fun, rather than learning discipline," Rocky stated, and Jason nodded.

"What age do you start them at?" Jason asked him suddenly, and Rocky blinked for a moment, not entirely sure what was being discussed.

"Oh," he laughed, catching on quickly. "Three or four," he replied.

"We're living about an hour outside of Angel Grove," Jason told him. "When we all get back, what do you think about taking him on as a student? I think it's about time."

"Get him into the family business young," Rocky asked, shaking his head with a laugh. "You got it," Rocky confirmed, with another nod. Jason looked over at Tyler and snickered. The boy had laid down on the beach towel and was rolled over on his side facing Rocky and Jason. He had one arm extended under his head, while the other continued to pick up sand and let it fall back down gently. His eyes were half closed and he yawned. Rocky followed Jason's line of sight and grinned. "They can fight it all they want; what I wouldn't give to take all those naps I once refused?" he laughed.

"Cheers to that," Jason stated, and both former red rangers smacked their cans together before taking long sips off them. Jason's eyes flickered away from the children and out towards the water where Zack and Adam were rough housing with the four teenage boys. He narrowed his eyes in, watching Tommy specifically, recognizing the smile the boy wore. He was definitely becoming much more relaxed. This was the person he remembered. He didn't really know the Tommy he'd gone to the moon with, or the Dr. Oliver who the real teenagers seemed to look up to, despite their (or mostly Connor's) teasing. He watched as Tommy jumped, a broad smile on his face, landing on Zack's back, one arm around his friend's shoulders as he dragged the bigger man down into the water, knocking the now inflated beach ball out of his hands. Trent scooped the ball out of the waves, and ran off with it, holding it above his head, avoiding Ethan who dove for his feet and landed face first in the knee deep water they were all goofing off in. He tried to process how they'd gone from a tight group of six to seemingly grasping at the threads that held some of their relationships together. He knew the events they'd all watched on the video diary were partially responsible, but there was so much more to it than just letting go of the power. "So," Jason stated to Rocky beside him after a few moments of silence. "Heard you gave Tommy a piece of your mind about four months ago." He glanced back, noticing that Tyler had finally succumbed to sleep.

Rocky leaned forward, inclining his entire body in agreement, before swallowing the beer he had in his mouth and nodding. He'd followed Jason's gaze out into the water, and knew what the first red ranger had been thinking about. "You mean my fist?" Rocky asked him, frowning. He sighed, as he remembered the anger he'd felt that day. Sometimes, he guessed, no matter how much discipline you learned, boys would hit.

"Yeah," Jason chuckled, although there was something a little dark in his laughter. Rocky smirked, his expression matching the cynicism he heard in Jason's voice. He sighed and ran his hand over the back of his neck. "Why'd you do it?"

"He deserved it," Rocky stated immediately, as if trying to defend his actions.

"No argument here," Jason reminded him, with a raised eyebrow. "Asshole still hasn't even contacting me," he added in and Rocky nodded. Tommy had welcomed Jason, Trini, and Zack back into his life because he needed them there more than he needed Adam, Rocky, and Aisha. Dr. Thomas Oliver had no idea that the original red, yellow, and black rangers were present in Reefside, let alone back in his life.

"I don't know," Rocky stated. "I guess it all just kind of hit me at once," he explained. "I mean, he missed the damn birth of my kids. We were more than friends once. We were brothers, you know?" Jason inhaled slowly and nodded. Of course he knew. "I guess I felt I couldn't forgive him fully, even with knowing how remorseful he felt over isolating us from his life, until I'd inflicted some type of comparable pain."

"Did you?" Jason asked, a dark smirk on his own features. Rocky smirked in response.

"Fucking idiot saw stars," Rocky confirmed with a nod. He knew this was a conversation only the two of them could have. Only the two red rangers, the original leader and the second in command, could understand wanting more than anything to forgive Tommy for leaving them without a word, without explanation, to take care of their respective teams, alone, but were unable to do so with ease. Sure, Jason was used to being the leader, but he'd had Tommy for most of their ranger careers to lean on and bounce ideas off of. For Rocky, he felt like he'd been thrust into the leader role, not in the temporary 'our full leader will return and fix this if I fuck it up' way, but in a more permanent one. They weren't rangers anymore, but their family still needed everyone, and suddenly Rocky and Jason were having to fill more than their own roles. Add to that, they were the only two who had gone on to marry and have children, all without someone important to them present at their most important life events. Hurt tended to manifest itself as anger.

"Damn," Jason laughed, shaking his head. "Wish I'd been there to see it," he added, and Rocky snickered as well.

"You going to hit him too?" Rocky asked him, taking another sip of his beer and leaning back in the beach chair. Jason was still leaning forward, his drink dangling in one hand as he propped his elbows on his knees. He was watching the other guys in the ocean, his eyes still locked on Tommy, while he could feel Rocky's gaze on him. Slowly, he sat back and shrugged his shoulders, mimicking the second red ranger's action with the beer.

"Maybe," he confirmed. "I haven't decided yet."

"Must be harder for you," Rocky stated. "Seeing him like this," he added in, nodding towards the teenager in the water. "Having to be reminded of why you want to forgive him. Of who he was. Of who you were to him. But still wanting to beat his face in." Jason sighed in response and nodded. Rocky had put it perfectly. He downed the last bit of his beer, and paused, studying the can in his hand for a moment, before he growled and crushed it in his hand. Rocky smirked and shook his head.

"You did forgive him though?" Jason asked Rocky, thought the answer was pretty clear. Rocky gave him a genuine half smile in response and nodded.

"He genuinely is sorry. He hates himself for missing everything. Same way I hate myself for not going and dragging his sorry ass to my wedding," Rocky told him, finishing his own beer. He glanced to the side at the sound of laughter. "Girls are back," he told Jason, who realized the same thing the moment Rocky had. He smirked and nodded. "Did anything I told you help?"

"A bit," Jason confirmed.

"Good," Rocky told him, standing up and stretching. "Alright," he added. "I say we were on baby duty while they were off bathroom socializing. They get to watch the kids while we hit the waves. You with me?"

"Oh hell yes," Jason chuckled, standing as well, laughing, and waving to his wife as the girls neared them.

"Uh oh ladies," Aisha laughed, leaning on Tanya's arm. "I know that look," she stated, nodding towards Rocky. Trini nodded, while Kim, Kira, and Tanya grinned. "I'm going to guess we were away just a tad bit too long."

"You think," Trini laughed. "Alright, let's get this over with," she groaned, waving back at Jason, and sighing. She knew she should have taken Tyler with her.

* * *

So, I know I promised you the Kim and Tommy talk, but you got a nice deep conversation between Rocky and Jason, too. Two for one on the deep emotional side of things. Hope those of you who want action aren't getting bored. I promise, a few twists and turns coming soon.

If you haven't reviewed yet, I'd love to hear from you. And if you're one of my typical reviewers, you know already know I love your reviews; I look forward to all of your opinions.

Thanks in advance,

Fateless


	12. Chapter 12

Longest Chapter of the story guys - this one is over 12K words alone. That's double the average amount of words per chapter in Chronology Conundrum.

Also, I waited on this one a bit, and got further ahead, so I actually have 13 and 14 finished, plus 15 half written. So look forward to more this coming week.

Last thing I want to say, is more of request. If anyone reading is an Eyeshine fan in the NC/norther SC area, send an email to Fayetteville Comic Con (contact page) telling them we want Eyeshine at the con. It'd be super cool. Steve Cardenas and Jason Faunt are already going, plus the voices of Goldar and Rita, so having Johnny and the band would be even cooler.

Ok, not gonna hold you up any longer. Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

"Dude!" Connor shouted through laughter. "That is so cheating!" he added, from his vantage point on top of Rocky's shoulders. In his hands, he held the multicolored beach ball. They were all deep enough in the water that the waves reached midway up Rocky's chest. Something, or someone, caused Rocky to lose his footing, sending both red rangers tumbling underneath the waves in a massive spray of ocean water and laughter. The ball was knocked free of Connor's hands as they fell, which instantly resulted in a chaotic scramble of six other former rangers all rushing to retrieve it, two more, staying behind and shaking their heads.

"No," Tanya laughed back, slightly more inland than Rocky. Her hands held tight to Kira's ankles, the younger yellow clad girl balancing on her on her shoulders. "Cheating was you all taking this game into the deeper water, making it harder for us to keep up." In order to keep the water from going into her nose and eyes, she and Kira were forced to stay closer to the shore than the other eight former rangers, who all happened to be male.

"Can anyone really cheat if we agreed that other than staying a tower of two people, in order to hold the ball, there are no rules?" Adam asked his fiancé, a mischievous grin on his face, as the two former red rangers resurfaced right beside him and Trent. Tanya rolled her eyes at him, a smirk on her face. She was planning payback for later. He'd regret the day he agreed with the other guys to take the ball into the deeper water. Only Connor had protested, and that was due to his lack of successful swimming ability. He'd been quickly out voted.

"Damn it frog boy," Rocky sputtered, shaking salt water from his hair and his eyes. "That was low," he added, knowing it was Adam's foot that had tripped him as he and Connor had attempted to make their way back to shore with the ball as their prize. He coughed a few times, trying to clear the water from his lungs, as he scanned the area for his partner.

"No rules," Ethan reiterated what his own partner had stated, as Adam used his leg strength to maneuver them through the water and away from Rocky's arms that just barely missed closing around Adam's shoulders in an effort to yank the blue and blank ranger team under the water.

"Who's got the ball, anyway?" Connor asked, pressing Rocky's head beneath the waves so he could climb black on top of the older man's shoulders.

"If you hadn't been busy debating who was and wasn't cheating," Trent called out, "you would have noticed that," he added pointing between him and Zack and Tanya and Kira closest to the beach. Tommy was laughing manically from his position on Jason's shoulders, holding the ball between his hands, raised high up above his head. Below him, Jason grinned.

"Suckers!" Jason laughed facing the other three teams of guys, as they closed in on him and Tommy. He was slowly walking backwards, letting the energy of the waves carry him backwards. "The ball is ours!" he added in, a split second before he caught a glimpse of the beach ball, no longer securely in Tommy grasp, floating above his head, followed by the sounds of a loud splash. "Huh?" he asked, watching the ball sail overhead. Connor, Rocky, Ethan, Adam, Trent, and Zack all looked up to watch the ball at it landed about twenty yards away on top of the waves, floating, as if taunting them.

"Ha!" Tanya laughed once, and all eight of the guys turned to look at her. She stood just behind Jason and Tommy, a smirk on her face, one eyebrow raised, mocking them. Kira was missing. All at once, the guys turned their attention off Tanya and onto the beach ball that was floating further away. A moment later all four male teams began fighting the waves, trying to get closer to the inflatable prize, sending up water as they barreled into each other, each trying to knock one another over and send the tower of rangers into the water while at the same time maneuver themselves into the optimum position to retrieve the ball. Tanya laughed watching them, only to double over laughing harder as the ball suddenly sailed over their heads again, just as they all were mere feet away, this time in the opposite direction, coming to land directly beside her, as the boys watched, clearly bewildered at what had just happened.

"Whoa!" Zack cried out. "We just agreed, no touching the ball unless you're in a two person tower," he stated, mock offense on his face, as Kira joined Tanya's laughter, having surfaced from under the waves, right where the ball had been located.

"Nope," Kira laughed. "We agreed you couldn't hold the ball. Not that you couldn't touch it," she added. Closest to her, Connor leaned down over Rocky's shoulders and splashed water at her. Kira flipped onto her back, laughing, and kicked her legs, sending a torrent of water over them.

"Did you just find a loophole?" Ethan asked, looking at his only female teammate in disbelief, shaking his head. Adam was glaring at Tanya, his head craned around Ethan's leg.

"Loophole would indicate that the rules were iron clad to begin with," Tanya refuted, giving Kira a wink, and clearly ignoring the look on her fiancé's face. The younger former yellow ranger teen laughed again, jumped into the air and took a deep breath. A moment later, she disappeared under the waves, leaving the guys staring at her stunned.

"Damn it!" Jason cursed. "They're going to win!" he shouted, and turned as he realized that Kira was swimming through the water, racing back towards Tanya who was guarding the beach ball, waiting for her partner to arrive. He began charging after her, holding tight to Tommy's ankles, moving as fast as the water would allow.

"Bro," Tommy shouted, down to him. "Did you learn nothing? Let me go," he laughed, and Jason grinned, releasing his legs. The regressed ranger, dove off Jason's shoulders and began racing Kira back toward the beach. Jason attempted to follow, but his arms were suddenly pinned to his sides, as he was lifted off the sandy ocean floor and tossed backwards in the water. He came up sputtering, glaring around, trying to figure out who had deterred him, knowing it had to be either Zack, Rocky, or Adam, only to be met with chaos.

Ethan and Trent each held one of Connor's arms, stopping his forward motion towards the girls and Tommy. The teenagers were laughing, and the game was kind of forgotten. Instead they were having fun dunking their former leader, who was freaking out slightly considering they were dragging him deeper into the ocean. There was a limit to how far Connor would go on his own, and they were getting pretty close to it. A stream of curses and threats, which were falling on deaf ears, emanated from Connor's mouth. Some of the things he said made Jason wonder if the teenager had been raised by sailors.

"Hey!" Zack shouted from several yards away, stealing the first red ranger's attention from the actual teenage boys, "That's not funny! Get back here," he added on, his face slightly red. One of his hands was below the waves while the other was curled into a fist in the air. He was glaring. Frowning, Jason looked around, trying to determine who Zack was yelling at, only to see Rocky swimming as fast as he could toward the shore, but not toward Tanya, Kira, Tommy and the beach ball. The former red ranger was laughing hysterically, which was slowing down his pace, slightly, meaning Zack could potentially catch him before he reached the beach. However, as much as Zack was shouting, he wasn't racing towards Rocky, but was actually backing further into the water. Jason, bewildered, just shook his head and sighed, looking around for the only individual not accounted for.

Adam, apparently the only one of the other three teams who was still trying to play the game, had ditched Ethan and was making his way towards his fiancé who was trying to prevent Tommy from reaching the ball. The male teenager had outswam Kira and reached Tanya first, but without Jason, he couldn't pick up the ball. Instead he'd kick it slightly out of Tanya's reach, forcing Tanya to dive towards it, and Kira to have to reroute her course every time she surfaced. Adam finally caught up to Kira and lifted her out of the water, tossing her off to the side, before resuming his swim toward Tanya.

Determining that he didn't want to give up the game and join the insanity, Jason dove into the waves and swam as fast and hard as he could. He reached Tommy, and swam between the teenage boy's legs, lifting him onto his shoulders. As soon as Tommy felt himself rising from the water, he grabbed the beach ball, as Jason began running towards the shore, both laughing hysterically.

"No!" Tanya shouted after them, and jumped up to dive beneath the waves. Adam grabbed her around the waist in midair and, twisting her, he tossed her over his shoulder, holding her waist with both hands, as he trudged toward the shore with her as his captive, a triumphant grin on his face, despite the fact that she was pounding against his back with her fists, demanding that he put her down.

"Gottchu," Kira laughed, wrapping her arms around his waist when the water reached just below his hips.

Adam laughed, but ignored her, continuing to trudge forward, even as Tommy spiked the beach ball into the sand, and the regressed ranger hoped off Jason's shoulders. They high fived each other, and collapsed exhausted into the sand. Tommy stretched his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his palms, while Jason pulled his knees up slightly and rested his elbows, turned outwards, on his knees, letting his forearms dangle, as they watched the rest. Adam reached them first, Tanya still over his shoulder, and Kira, having slipped down as the water level receded, was now clinging to his left ankle as he dragged her through the surf. Laughing, he dumped Tanya into the sand, and then peered down at the teenage ankle bracelet he'd acquired. "You can let go now," he told her. "You lost."

"So did you," Tanya laughed, reaching her hand up towards him, as Kira chuckled and let go, pushing herself onto her knees. Adam shook his head and laughed, reaching down to take Tanya's hand and pull her up to her feet. Caught off guard when she yanked on his hand instead, Adam found himself having to thrust both hands forward in order to prevent himself from getting a face full of sand, as he plummeted to the ground. He turned his head to glare at her, only to see that she was smirking playfully. He chuckled and flipped himself over so that he was sitting beside her, wrapping one arm over her shoulders, as Tanya laid her head down on his shoulder. "Kira," Tanya asked. "What are your teammates doing?" her face clearly reflected complete and utter confusion.

"I'm thinking some type of intensive swim lesson," Kira replied, looking backwards over her shoulder and frowning, despite the fact that she was grinning. She put her hand up to her forehead to shield her eyes as she studied Connor, Ethan and Trent. Trent had Connor in some type of choke hold, and Ethan held his feet. All three boys were clearly beyond their ability to stand, as Ethan was kicking his legs rapidly to keep himself afloat, while Trent was using his free arm to paddle. "Hopefully, they don't kill him in the process," she added in, although she didn't look entirely concerned as she turned back to face Tanya and Adam.

"Never mind what they're doing," Jason stated. "What is Rocky doing?" he asked, frowning as the second red ranger came running out of the ocean laughing hysterically. The moment he hit the beach, he collapsed onto his hands and knees between Jason and Adam, gasping for air as he laughed. There was no sign of him stopping any time soon. He held something clutched in both of his hands. "Seriously, there is nothing that funny," Jason told him. Rocky just nodded, rolling onto his back and planting his feet firmly in the sand, as his stomach heaved up and down with the effort of his laughter.

"Wanna bet?" he choked out, freeing one hand and holding up his prize with the second. In his hand was a purple and black garment.

"Rocky DeSantos!" Zack shouted from the waves. "You bring that back here!" he added in, his cheeks flushed red, glaring at the individuals on the beach, as Adam, Jason, Tanya, Kira, and Tommy looked from the hysterical former red ranger to the embarrassed original black ranger.

"You're twisted," Tommy told Rocky, breaking into a fit of laughter, and rolling onto his back as well. He didn't know Rocky all that well, but the look on Zack's face was pure gold. He was enjoying seeing his teammate, grown up or not, in such a predicament. Beside him, Jason had collapsed into nearly the same level of hysterics that Rocky was in. Tears were streaming down his face.

Adam shook his head, laughing slightly, while both Kira and Tanya gaped at Rocky, their mouths hanging wide open. "That's low," Adam told his best friend who was pushing himself into a seated position. "Even for you."

Rocky shrugged in response, once he was upright, his laughter starting to die down now that there were others in on his joke. Tanya sighed and rolled her eyes, pushing herself to her feet. She walked over to Rocky, snatched the pair of swim trunks from him, and hit him in the back of the head, a grin on her face. "You are such an idiot," she told him, laughing. "Coming Zack!" she called out to the only remaining black ranger in the water. He gave her two thumbs up.

"Oh hell no," Adam laughed, jumping to his feet without using his hands. He snatched the suit from Tanya and took off running into the water. Tanya watched him go, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Thought that might work," she muttered to Kira, who just laughed in response.

* * *

Kimberly, Trini, and Aisha sat on beach chairs under the shade of the umbrella canopy watching over the three children as they slept. Jason and Rocky had filled them in on Tyler and Katie's incident before racing off to join the others in the ocean. Kira and Tanya had decided to go into the water as well, and while the two ranger mothers insisted Kim go to, she'd decided she'd have more fun staying and gossiping with her two best friends. Their choice of conversation had ranged from recalling old high school memories to current jobs and lives. Trini and Aisha each nursed once frozen, now slightly thawed pouches that contained strawberry daiquiris. Kim's hand were clutched around a bottle of water.

"Alright girl," Aisha told her, leaning back in her chair and turning so she was looking at Kimberly, "spill it," she commanded, raising an eyebrow, a slight smirk on her face. However, her eyes told the former pink ranger that she was completely serious and slightly concerned.

"Spill what?" Kimberly replied, feigning ignorance to Aisha's line of questioning. Aisha cast a look at her predecessor, who met her eyes and shrugged. Both women in yellow turned back to Kim, eyebrows raised, indicating that they were not giving up getting an answer out of their former teammate. Kimberly sighed, knowing neither of them was going to back down. She slumped her shoulder and shook her head. "I'm fine, really," forcing a smile onto her face, trying to kid herself that the two women who knew her best would not see through it.

"You are not," Trini told her with a glare, "and you have every right to not be fine." She knew it wasn't a good idea for Kim to keep her feelings bottled up inside.

"Trini's right," Aisha added in, setting her mouth in a grim line and nodding. "He's freaking fifteen years old for crying out loud. I'd be a hysterical mess right now if it was Rocky," she confirmed. The very idea caused her to freak out, despite the fact that she knew her husband was still very much twenty seven. She couldn't imagine trying to keep it together like Kimberly was.

"Yeah, well," Kimberly began, sighing and leaning back in the chair, turning away from both of them and looking out at the water so they wouldn't see the truth reflected in her eyes. Her gaze immediately locked onto the teenager in question and followed his every movement. "That's because Rocky doesn't normally deal with shit like this," she added in. "For Tommy, this is par for the course."

Aisha shook her head, frowning at Kimberly's answer. She knew her friend was lying, whether she wanted to admit it to them and herself or not. "Did you know Rocky once nearly turned himself into a plant?" she asked her friends. Both women immediately looked at her, their faces showing shock, confusion, and disbelief. "It's true," she added with a laugh. "Tanya told me. Happened during Zeo."

"A plant?" Trini asked. "How does… you know what, I really don't think I even want to know," Trini added with a slight cynical laugh, shaking her head.

"The point is," Aisha stated. "We've all dealt with crazy stuff like this. Doesn't matter if it happens once or twice or every other week. It still affects you. You've been hiding it, Kim," Aisha told her, forcefully, but gently at the same time.

"No one else is here," Trini told her. "It's just us. You know you can tell us anything," she added, studying her former teammate. During one of the most intense and trying times of their lives, they'd been each other's confidants in a male dominated situation. They'd relied on each other almost more than they'd relied on the guys on their team. They'd told each other everything. However, while they still kept in touch, still talked, still visited each other every so often, their relationship was clearly not the same. Kim was hiding things instead of opening up, and they were being forced to drag them out of her.

"There's nothing to tell, really," Kimberly defended, fighting the feelings that were welling up inside her. Fear, confusion, anger. Everything that was threatening to overwhelm her. But she couldn't let it out. She wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to prevent herself from falling to pieces. Tommy needed her to be strong. If she freaked out, even just in front of Aisha and Trini, she didn't doubt that it would get back to him. And then what? Tommy was just beginning to relax and accept the situation. He'd finally stopped frantically searching for a way to reverse things on his own and was trusting his teammates to keep it together until they could fix him. She couldn't and didn't want to let him down. She looked up from her water bottle and made eye contact with Aisha and Trini who were staring at her. "Really," she insisted. "I'm good," she added, knowing that they knew she was lying.

"Just say you don't want to talk about it," Trini informed her, sighing and shaking her head. She looked away from the pink clad woman out to the surf where the other former rangers were causing quite a ruckus. She wondered if they were aware that everyone else on the beach were giving them angry looks as they were pretty much responsible for disturbing the peace. "You don't have to lie," she added, a bit of hurt in her expression, as she dropped her voice.

Kimberly exhaled sharply and shook her head, "Sorry Trin," she stated, a slight sad smile as her expression. She hated the tone she heard in her first female teammate's voice. She hated the acknowledgement that they truly weren't teammates anymore, in both power and relationship. "I just, really don't want to talk about it." Aisha opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by soft cries coming from beside her as Luke stirred in his baby carrier. "Somebody's not happy," Kim said softly, glad that there was a change in subject. Aisha sighed and bent down, retrieving the baby, and standing up. She grabbed the diaper bag, and knelt down on the ground, laying the fussing boy out in front of her, clearly recognizing his cry. "How'd you know he needed a change?" Kim asked her, smiling down at the boy.

"Intuition," Aisha laughed, and Trini nodded. Both women laughed, and Kim gave them a strange look as if they were both nuts. "You'll find out when it's your turn," Aisha continued, though she sighed, looking at Trini. They both knew Kimberly had changed the topic on purpose. And they knew that their opportunity to get her to open up had passed. They wouldn't get her to admit her feelings just yet. Kim shook her head, standing up to gather their trash. She grabbed the empty alcoholic slushy containers as well as her now empty water bottle and took them to the black trash bag the guys had rigged up on one of the umbrella poles. She clasped her hands together and stretched them above her head, bending herself backwards, before she stood straight back up and raised one hand over her eyes to study the other rangers.

"What the hell are they doing?" Kimberly laughed lightly, getting the attention of both the first and second of Earth's yellow rangers. All three women watched as Jason, Tommy on his shoulders, came running out of the ocean and spiked the beach ball as if it were a football in the end zone. Behind them, Adam was carrying Tanya, and dragging Kira up the beach, and Rocky came running out waving something they couldn't make out in the air.

"Don't ask me," Trini stated, with a grin. "I gave up trying to understand my husband years ago."

"Causes too many headaches," Aisha agreed, frowning, as she watched Tanya smack Rocky upside the head. The item in Rocky's possession traded to hers and then Adam's. The second black ranger took it back into the ocean. "Oh god," Aisha stated, scooping Luke off the ground and coming to stand near Kimberly.

"What?" Trini asked, she didn't join them, as Tyler and Katie had begun to stir. Instead, she took her son by the wrist as he rubbed sleep from his eye with his other fist and crawled to his feet. She guided him into one of the beach chairs and leaned over, going into the cooler and grabbing a juice box, before handing it to the boy.

"Somehow," Kimberly giggled, turning around and shaking her head while Aisha continued to start out at the ocean, completely horrified and bewildered, "it appears Zack ended up naked, with Rocky in possession of his swim trunks!"

"Zack's what?" Trini laughed, snapping her head up and away from Tyler. The boy wasn't paying attention as he was still trying to wake up from his nap. Katie sat on her knees on the towels, rubbing her eyes with both fists.

"Mommy?" the little girl whimpered slightly, looking around.

"Right here monkey," Aisha replied to the small girl. "And yep," she stated, turning to look at Trini as Katie came over and wrapped on arm around her leg, slipping her thumb into her mouth. Aisha reached down and gently began to stroke Katie's hair. "Zack was naked," she stated, noticing that Adam and Zack were headed back toward the shore. Connor was also racing back towards dry land, shouting something and glaring at his two teammates who were trailing behind him, laughing. Those who were already on the beach had stood up and were migrating back towards them. "You know," she added to the two women beside her as she turned her back on the scene and walked Katie over to the towels again. She got a sippy cup of water out and handed it the toddler, who sat down on the towels, drinking it. "I think I'm going to need another drink," she laughed, reaching into the cooler again, grabbing an alcoholic beverage.

"Hand me one, Aisha?" Trini laughed from her seat next to Tyler. Aisha grinned and tossed her the one she was holding to Trini who caught it nimbly, before reaching back into the cooler for a second one.

"Kim?" she asked, addressing the third women, who was still watching the others, her eyes locked onto Tommy. Kim turned to look at her, and then shook her head, sighing.

"No thanks," she stated, walking back to the chairs they'd set up. She sat down on the beach towel beside Katie, and the little girl crawled into her lap, one hand holding her sippy cup, the other wrapped around Kimberly's neck in a childish hug. "I'll stick with water," she confirmed, with a nod.

"Your loss," Aisha laughed, tossing her a water bottle and closing the cooler, as the first wave of the others reached them. Tommy, Jason, and Rocky entered the shaded shelter first, heading straight for the cooler.

"What's whose loss?" Tommy asked, opening the cooler and grabbing a bottle of water. He held it up to Rocky and Jason who both shook their heads. Tommy shrugged in response, and shut the cooler, sitting down on the ground and opening his bottle, before pouring half its contents down his throat.

"Kim declined alcohol," Trini explained, seeing the same question that the teenager asked reflected in both Jason and Rocky's faces.

"Kim drinks?" Tommy asked, confusion on his face for a moment, as he watched Jason pull out a few beers from the cooler as the rest of the group finally made their way in. Jason handed them off to Zack, Rocky, and Adam, offering one to Tanya, who shook her head.

"But I will have one of those," Tanya stated, indicating the frozen drink Aisha and Trini each held.

"You got it," Jason replied, keeping the beer for himself, and grabbing another of the frozen pouches for Tanya. He tossed it toward her, before holding the lid of the cooler open for Kira, who grabbed a water bottle. Connor was still yelling at Ethan and Trent, standing in the surf, while the former white and blue rangers tried to keep from falling over as they laughed at him. "And last time I checked, yes Kim drinks," Jason told Tommy as everyone grabbed seats, either in beach chairs or on the floor. Jason scooped Tyler up out of a chair, sat down, and placed the boy in his lap. Tanya curled into Adam's lap on the ground, while Zack perched himself on top of the cooler. Kira sat cross legged near Aisha and reached out to take Luke from her. Aisha handed the baby over, and sat back in the beach chair she'd occupied earlier, while Rocky sat beside Kim. Katie immediately abandoned Kim, to hang one armed down Rocky's back.

"I do," Kimberly laughed, seeing the confusion still radiating from Tommy as he tried to piece together what was happening around him. "Aww," she stated, laughing at him. "We've gone and freaked him out again," she added in, causing everyone around her to laugh. Tommy's eyes were darting between Trini, Jason, and Zack, each who held and sipped from an alcoholic beverage. "Tommy, handsome," she told him with a bit of a giggle. "You're fifteen. We're not," she added in, downing some of her water.

He blushed, realizing Kim knew exactly what had just happened. For the last hour or so, he'd been rough housing in the ocean with his friends. He'd completely let his guard down and forgotten that he wasn't hanging out with the friends he knew. He was hanging out with people who were nearly twice his current age. They were all adults. They weren't in high school anymore. They weren't the versions of his friends he remembered.

"Oh stop that," Trini laughed at him, rolling her eyes. "Two seconds ago you were fine. Don't go all quiet and sulky on us now," she added in, scolding him, alcohol making her a bit less gentle than she normally would have been. After all, that was her second drink in the last hour.

"Unky Ranger?" Katie's voice grabbed Tommy's attention before he could respond to Trini. Tommy turned towards the little girl who was still hanging off her father's neck. "Build san casdol?" she asked, sweetly, a mischievous smile on her face.

"I wanna build one too," Tyler announced, sliding off Jason's lap. "Please?" he begged.

"We can build one with Katie," Jason stated, nodding, and standing up to gather the sand toys. Tommy was still trying to process how he'd gone from being scolded by Trini to being roped into sand castle building with Katie.

"Why don't we make it a competition?" Zack laughed, gauging the reactions from the others. "Katie and Tyler can be the team captains."

"I'm in for that. What do you say, monkey, want daddy on your team?" he asked the little girl, who'd abandoned him and was sitting on Tommy's lap at that point, her sippy cup discarded near her father. Rocky picked it up and handed it off to Aisha.

"No," Katie giggled. "Want Unky Rangers," she told him, and no one missed the plural. Rocky gaped at her, as the little girl jumped off Tommy's lap and ran to Zack, clinging to his hand. Zack frowned and looked at Rocky.

"How exactly did I become an Unky Ranger?" he asked, one eyebrow raised, clearly bewildered. They'd all expected Katie to indicate Adam.

"We haven't completely figure out how she knows to pick up on color," Adam laughed, shaking his head. "But, apparently, any and all black rangers are 'Unky Ranger'," he explained. "How about me Katie?" he asked her. Katie frowned at him for a moment, tilting her head to the side, as if debating. She put on finger on her lip, and then nodded.

"Ok, Tyler," Jason told his son. "Katie picked Tommy, Adam, and Uncle Zack. Who do you want?"

"Daddy Wangew," Tyler stated, and then cast his glance around at everyone in the shade. "Him," he stated, pointing directly at Rocky after a moment of thought.

"That's Rocky," Jason reminded the boy. "We don't point," he added in. "Anyone else?" He waved in greeting as the three remaining members of the dino thunder team walked underneath the canopy. Zack shifted, letting the three boys each grab a bottle of water out from inside the cooler.

Tyler, glanced around the area, his eyes coming to rest on the teenage boy in red. He smirked. "Connew," he giggled.

"Huh what? What'd I miss?" Connor asked, looking up from his water bottle, completely not understanding why Tyler had just called his name, and being slightly exhausted and brain fried from the water and the sun. Not that he would have had a better ability to understand if he wasn't tired.

"That boy just seriously choose everyone in red," Adam laughed, shaking his head.

"Well, Katie did choose black," Tanya informed him, despite the fact that both Adam and Tommy had chosen to lean towards green that day, and Zack was clad in mostly purple. She had a point, but it unfortunately made Katie's ability to pick out ranger colors even creepier than it normally would. At least Tyler had actually clothing to go on.

A few minutes later, everyone else was divided among the teams. Kira, Trent, and Aisha joined Katie's team, while Kim, Trini, and Ethan joined Tyler's. Tanya agreed that she and Luke would judge the competition and gave the sand castle builders one hour, before taking Luke and wandering down to the ocean. The group divided the large bag of sand toys between them, and surprisingly, neither Katie nor Tyler started a fight over wanting anything the other had.

About a half hour into the competition, both groups had pretty decent sand castles going. Connor and Tyler were decorating the ramparts of their castle with Tyler's toy dinosaurs, the small boy trying to determine the perfect location for his tyrannosaurus. On the other side, Katie and Adam were digging a moat around their castle.

"Connor!" A new voice called out to the group, and everyone looked up, confused, as it clearly wasn't Tanya. Instead, a girl with her hand in one long pale blond braid down her back, wearing a hot pink bikini, and a boy in camo colored swim trunks, black sport sunglasses over his eyes, were approaching the group of rangers. Realizing who they were, Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent waved to them. Kim frowned, looking from the recent high school graduates to the regressed member of the dino thunder team.

"Hey Cassidy! Hey Devin," Connor called in response, as the two teenagers reached them.

"What are you doing?" Cassidy asked, drawing out the word 'are' as if she couldn't believe they were building sand castles on the beach, since it clearly wasn't an actual question about what their current activity was.

"Really Cassidy?" Kira replied with a slight laugh. She rolled her eyes, and continued to help Aisha pat some of the sand. "What's it look like we're doing? Brain surgery?"

"Whatever," Cassidy replied, shifting her features into a grin. "Hey Tommy," she added in to the teenage boy in green, who'd gone slightly pale when Cassidy and Devin arrived. He remembered his last encounter with Cassidy, and it wasn't exactly a moment he wanted to relive. He dropped his gaze down from her to the sand.

"Hi, um… Cassidy, right?" he asked, looking back up and trying not to blush. At the same moment, everyone except the teenagers (and two oblivious toddlers) had gone wide eyed in horror. This teenager, Cassidy, had addressed Tommy by name, and Kira, Ethan, Trent, and Connor did not look distressed at all. Cassidy gave Tommy a wide grin, while Devin shook his head.

"You're making him uncomfortable again, Cas," Devin told her. "Sorry Ms. Hart," he stated, addressing Kimberly. Since moving to Reefside, she'd accompanied Tommy to a few school functions, including prom the evening after the rangers had lost their powers for good. Kimberly closed her gaping mouth, and nodded slowly, casting a questioning look at Kira, Ethan, Trent, and Connor, who shrugged. They couldn't say anything at that moment. While Cassidy and Devin knew who the dino thunder rangers were, they didn't know that Kim was a former ranger, which clearly meant that they had no idea who the remainder of the people in the group were. If Connor or the others tried to explain why Cassidy and Devin knew who Tommy really was, there would be some serious explaining needing to be done, and Connor didn't think the others wanted their identities outed in any way.

"That's alright, Devin," Kimberly stated, forcing a smile onto her face, as she broke the look she was giving the four actual teenagers. "What can we do for you?" Tommy had filled her in on the fact that Cassidy and Devin knew the dino thunder teams' identities, but he'd assured her that he would never let them find out anything more than that.

"Oh," Cassidy laughed. "We just came to see if Connor, Tommy, and the others wanted to come hang out with a group of us from school down the beach. After all, I didn't think Dr. Oliver's nephew would want to hang out with some adults all day," she stated, with a smirk. "No offence," she added in, before turning to Connor and the other teenagers. "After all, no one is going to believe Dr. Oliver has a nephew if they don't see him away from Ms. Hart," she added, and Kira realized what the girl was hinting at. She turned slightly red and nodded, standing up.

"Right!" she laughed, looking over her shoulder and noticing that Jason and Rocky were both mouthing the word 'nephew' to one another. Aisha looked mystified, while Zack was still struggling to compose his expression. Trini and Adam exchanged concerned looks.

"Who is everyone anyway?" Cassidy asked, frowning and gazing around at the group, sizing everyone up. She was pretty sure she'd never met any of them before, or seen them around Reefside. Yet, they were all about the same age as Dr. Oliver.

"Oh, um," Trent stated, standing up as well and dusting the sand off of himself. "They're all um, old friends of Dr. Oliver and Ms. Hart. They came up for a visit," he added, gritting his teeth, sensing that Cassidy was trying to see if there was more to his story. He knew she'd catch an outright lie, but he hoped she wouldn't dig any deeper.

"Sure picked a hell of a time to come visit," Devin stated sarcastically, before running his hand over the back of his neck. "I mean, um, what with Dr. Oliver's nephew visiting. It must um, be very difficult to spend any time with him," Devin stated.

"Yeah," Kimberly replied, frowning, and slowly starting to catch on. Apparently Devin and Cassidy did know that the teenager in front of them was Dr. Oliver; she shot a look at Kira, who nodded, indicating that Kim should just play along. "Yeah," she repeated, sighing and throwing a smile on her face. "Dr. Oliver had to go out of town for an emergency meeting, on um… fossils," she stated, wanting to smack herself. Devin frowned, but Cassidy nodded, clearly accepting the fact that it appeared Kim was in the dark about the fact that the boy was really Tommy. "But I've been keeping everyone entertained. Connor and the others volunteered to help us build some sand castles, but we've definitely taken up enough of their time. You should go, hang out with kids your own age," Kimberly stated, and as one, her friends' eyes shot open. Tommy's head sprang up as he made eye contact with Kim, who gave him a slight nod, trying to reassure him.

"If you're sure you don't need us to stay," Connor stated, hesitating slightly as he and Ethan climbed to their feet. Kim shook her head, having completely pieced together the cover story that Kira, Cassidy, and Devin all seemed to be in on.

"Cassidy?" A young voice from a bit further down the beach called out, and for a moment everyone's attention followed it, noticing a group of high schoolers and recent high school graduates it various styles of beach attire, clearly waiting on Cassidy and Devin. Cassidy waved back, indicating that they would be right there. She gave Connor an impatient look.

"No," Kim stated with a sigh, as she bit her lip, tearing her eyes off the young teenage girls in bikinis. "Go on," she stated, and even Connor could tell the smile she wore on her face was fake, but he attributed it to the fact that they were all stressed out having to lie about the situation and their identities. "We're only going to be at the beach until about five o'clock anyway. Thanks for letting us borrow the chairs and umbrella. I'll make sure you get them back" she added in, and knew that Kira would make note of what time to meet back at Tommy's house and the fact that the adults would take care of gathering the teenagers' belongings. "Take Tommy with you. He could stand to make some friends," she added in, as Tommy's face shifted to one of horror. She was making him leave? She was making him go hang out with teenagers from decade that he really didn't have a good grasp on? She was basically sending him off to his doom? He'd rather be stepped on by the Megazord than face the reality of his current situation.

"Alright," Trent stated, with a nod. "Come on Tommy," he added, grabbing the fifteen year old boy by the arm, despite the fact that the teenager tried to protest. Connor grabbed his other arm, and together, they hurled him to his feet; two eighteen year old former rangers being a lot stronger than one fifteen year old who had just become one. "We'll see you around," Trent told Kimberly, as he and Connor began dragging Tommy down the beach, Kira and Ethan falling into step behind them. After a few moments, they stopped forcefully dragging him, but Connor looped his arm over Tommy's shoulders to prevent him from attempting to retreat back to the adult rangers. Tommy glanced over his shoulder and gave Kim and the others a helpless look, before he slumped his shoulders and allowed the dino thunder team to lead him away.

Kim watched, biting down on her lip and trying to fight the panic that was welling up inside her. She just realized that she'd sent the love of her life off with Cassidy and bunch of other scantily clad teenage girls, while he currently had the physical, mental, emotional, and hormonal capacity of a fifteen year old. Horrifying images flashed through her mind, including one of a teenage Tommy making out with the petite brunette she'd noticed in the purple one piece with no back.

"What the fuck was that?" Jason stated, and not even Trini scolded him for his use of a swear word around Tyler and Katie. Everyone present was staring at Kim, wearing expressions that showed considerable concern, anxiety, and bewilderment.

Startled out of her thoughts by Jason's outburst, Kim quickly tried to hide the tears that had started to well up in her eyes. She swallowed the sob that threatened to escape from her throat and gave her friends a halfhearted smile. "That was Cassidy and Devin," she stated, simply, not fully trusting her voice. As much as she was striving to be calm on the outside, her insides were clearly in chaos.

"Well, that much was evident," Adam replied with a small sarcastic laugh. He wasn't entirely in agreement with Kim and the teens that Tommy should have gone off with them. "I'm pretty sure Jason was referring to the entire thing that just transpired."

"Oh," Kim stated, still trying to focus on her friends, rather than the fact that she'd probably just sent Tommy off to his next girlfriend. She knew they sensed her unease, knew that she was on the verge of breakdown, but while they were curious, they wouldn't call her out on it. "Um," she went on, still trying to get a grip on herself, she sniffled slightly, hoping they wouldn't notice, but in reality, knowing they would. "Devin and Cassidy kind of caught the kids and Tommy on video during their final battle," she stated.

"What?" Aisha, Trini, and Zack exclaimed all at once. Jason, Rocky, and Adam both looked horrified. Someone knew the identity of the dino thunder rangers. That did not bode well for them.

"It's ok," Kim stated, trying to calm the alarms that were going off in her friends minds. "They're good kids," she told them. "And they know nothing about Tommy's past," she added in. "Which was evident, or they wouldn't have beaten around the bush so much, trying to get Connor and the others to go with them," she added.

"Come again?" Aisha asked Kim, who sighed and nodded, a bit reluctantly. She didn't look any more pleased than any of the others in the group did. However, her expression showed confusion more than anything.

"Devin and Cassidy must be helping the kids spread the rumor that 'Tommy'," she stated, throwing air quotes around his name, "is his own nephew, visiting from out of town. It won't help their rumor if Tommy is always seen hanging around us, without his adult self," she added in. "Getting Connor and the others to go hang out with the other teens of Reefside was actually a smart idea," she stated, nodding in appreciation of the Cassidy's plan. Jason, Adam, Rocky, Zack, Trini, and Aisha all gaped at her.

"Why didn't the kids say anything about this cover story earlier?" Trini asked, frowning, as she cast her gaze in the direction of the teenagers. They'd wandered so far away that they could no longer make out individual identities within the massive teenage beach party, yet she was pretty sure Connor, Tommy, and the others were all with them.

"In the chaos of the last two days," Kim stated with a shrug, "they must have forgotten. And they couldn't say anything just now without alerting Cassidy and Devin to the fact that we also know who Tommy is. They would have certainly questioned how that is," Kim reminded them, sighing and standing up. Now that they'd gotten her talking, she had a much better grasp on her emotions. She still felt like crying, but she knew she wasn't going to go to pieces right there on the beach.

"But what if he slips and says something stupid," Jason stated, knowing that that option was a distinct possibility. "Like asks how to work a cell phone?" he added in, and Zack and Rocky shook their heads, hiding the fact that they could see it happening and were highly amused.

"I trust Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent, to handle it," Kimberly stated, turning away from the direction they'd headed and making eye contact with her friends. "They've spent the last year of their lives getting pretty good at coming up with lies and cover stories to explain strange events. If you recall, teenagers can be pretty good at acting and convincing people of things when they try," she laughed, although it had a nervous edge to it.

"If you're sure," Zack stated, glancing in the direction the teenagers had gone and then back at Kim, his expression clearly indicating that he still wasn't.

"I am," Kim stated simply, reaching down to take Katie's hand. "Come on Katie," she said to the small child who happily grabbed on. "Let's go get some sea shells for your castle," she added in.

"Okay," the toddler replied, picking up a bucket with her free hand and moving her small legs as fast as she could to keep up with Kimberly, who appeared to be trying to put as much distance between herself and the other former rangers as she possibly could, as fast as she could, leaving them all staring after her, concerned.

* * *

"Do we have to stay here much longer?" Tommy complained to Ethan. Both teenage boys were sitting on a large piece of driftwood on the beach, just on the edge of where the woods came in contact with it. The sun was still out, but it was low enough that the entire area where the Reefside teenagers were having their party was cast into the shade. Tommy held a red solo cup containing a fruit punch in his hands. Beside him, Ethan shrugged, glancing around the party, trying to pin point his other three teammates among the multitudes of teenagers.

"We'll leave soon," Ethan told him, taking a sip of his own punch. "Yours wasn't spiked right?" he asked the younger boy, whose eyes shot open at the thought, as he began studying the liquid in his cup. Ethan grabbed it and sniffed, handing it back to him. "You're good," he stated. "Anyway, you heard Kim; they'll all be heading back to the house around five. Cassidy heard her too," he added. "We can't leave till at least then."

"Ethan, Tommy!" Connor called out, leading a group of teenage girls, including Kira, over to where the black and blue dino thunder rangers were sitting. Ethan frowned, looking up at his former leader, while Tommy cast his gaze down towards the sand, as Kira took a seat on the log beside Ethan.

"How many drinks has he had?" Ethan asked her, his frown shifting into a glare as he realized that his and Tommy's cups might not have contained the spiked punch, but there was a distinct alcoholic scent on Connor's breath.

"Just one," Kira replied, rolling her eyes at Connor, not Ethan. "But to be honest," she stated. "I actually think that was an accident as well. Someone's idea of a joke," she stated. Over the last year, Connor had definitely become the type of teenager who would shy away from doing anything illegal, and probably would not have intentionally drank the spiked punch. "He's been sticking with water since he realized it," she added in.

"Come on guys," Connor stated, grinning and throwing his arms over the shoulders of the two nearest girls. "You so totally need to come and dance," he stated, clearly enjoying himself and the party. Each of the girls laughed slightly, apparently having enjoyed some of the special punch as well.

"Count me out," Tommy replied, crossing his arms over his chest. All he wanted was to go back to the group of people he recognized so he didn't feel like he was making a fool of himself. Connor laughed at him slightly and shook his head.

"How about you?" Connor stated, nodding to Ethan, who sighed, and set his cup down, shaking his head, but grinning as well.

"Alright," he laughed. "Someone ought to keep you out of trouble," he added in, ignoring the fact that Tommy was clearly giving a look that called him a traitor. Ethan smirked at the younger boy and pushed himself off the log, as Connor and the girls turned around. They walked off back into the main body of the party, leaving Kira and Tommy alone on the log.

"You ok?" Kira asked Tommy as soon as everyone else was out of ear shot. Tommy looked up at her, a glare on his features. She was partially responsible for the fact that he was there in the first place. "I'll take that as a no," Kira stated, with a slight laugh. "Come on; it isn't that bad," she told the boy. "Before you know it, you'll be back with Kim," she stated, as Tommy took a sip of his drink. The moment the words left her mouth, Tommy spit his liquid out in front of him, causing Kira to burst out laughing.

"How did," Tommy began, trying to determine if he wanted to protest her accusation or figure out how she'd reached it.

Kira just shook her head, and laughed again. "Tommy, you're so readable, it's not even a challenge," she told the boy. "But you need to relax. People are going to start questioning who you really are if you don't start behaving more like you belong here," she added. "Kim's not going anywhere. She'll be back at the house tonight and at the end of the week, when Billy gets here, all will be back to normal," she stated.

Tommy exhaled and rolled his eyes, but he did nod. She had a point. Whether he thought he was in his correct time or not, there was one big rule as a ranger. No one could find out his identity, and that meant that he had to keep them from figuring out that he wasn't really fifteen, or at least that he wasn't supposed to be. "Where's Trent?" he asked Kira, trying to change the topic. Kira nodded into the distance slightly where the white ranger in question was on his toward them carrying two drinks.

"Sorry it took so long," Trent apologized to Kira. "They've gotten to most of the punch at this point, so I had to find some water," he added, handing her one of the cups.

"You sure it's safe?" Kira chuckled in response, as she looked into the clear liquid in the cup, and Trent nodded.

"Hey Tommy," Trent stated. "How you holding up?"

"Don't ask," Kira laughed, before Tommy could reply. The younger boy paused for a moment and then sighed and shook his head, cracking a grin in response. Kira had a point. He was being sulky, he just wished he had a better grasp on who he really was. Maybe if he'd been a little older; or had been a ranger for a bit longer; he'd feel more confident.

The three dino thunder rangerss fell into easy conversation for a while, before Trent and Kira slowly began discussing things that Tommy definitely didn't understand, such as Haley's and college. As a result, he slowly found himself being isolated, unintentionally from the conversation. Sitting alone, staring into his now nearly empty cup, refusing to refill it for fear he'd accidentally consume alcohol and have to face Jason and the others when he got back, Tommy didn't notice he had company until a pair of small feet appeared in his vision. Startled, he jumped back slightly looking up, and meeting the bright blue eyes of a dark haired teenager wearing silver bikini.

"Hey," she said, smiling at him, one hand dangling at her side. She had the other wrapped around her back, gripping her own wrist. She didn't appear to be any older than maybe fourteen or fifteen. "Wanna dance?" she asked Tommy, when he didn't automatically reply. Tommy gaped at her for a moment, before turning his head to look at Kira and Trent who had stopped talking the moment she'd arrived.

"Um," Tommy stated, not knowing exactly what to do. Every fiber of his being was screaming no, but for the sake of his cover story, he wondered if he should consent.

"Go on," Kira encouraged him, giving him a reassuring smile. "We just finished saying you should relax," she added in, and Tommy sighed, turning back to the girl.

"Sure," he spoke, setting his cup inside Ethan's discarded one, and following the girl. Behind him he heard Trent ask Kira if she really thought that was a good idea. He didn't hear Kira's reply, so he had no idea that she had just shrugged her shoulders in response. At this point Kira had pretty much given up trying to determine if things were going to work out or not. It was pretty much guess and test and fly by the seat of your pants as far as she was concerned. Watching them walk away, she downed half of her cup of water.

"I'm Sarah," the girl told him when they reached the area where the teenagers had set up speakers and music. She gave him a genuine smile. Tommy, grateful that the music was nothing slow, giving him reason not to actually touch the girl, returned her smile with a halfhearted one of his own.

"Tommy," he replied, nervously as the two of them began moving their bodies to the beat of the music. Tommy cast his glance around, making sure that the teenagers in two thousand and four didn't dance too incredibly different from what he was used to.

"You're new around here?" Sarah asked him after a moment. "Did you just move to Reefside?"

"No," Tommy stated, shaking his head. "Just visiting my, um, uncle," he stated, trying to remember the details of the cover story that Cassidy and Devin were supposed to be spreading around Reefside. "Just here for a little while," he added in. In his mind he repeated the phrase 'please only be a week'. He was desperate for this nightmare to end. The sooner Billy arrived, the better.

"That's too bad," Sarah stated, with a slight giggle. Tommy struggled to keep himself from frowning. He didn't like her giggle. What was she giggling about? As far as he knew, he hadn't said anything funny. Was she laughing at him? Or could it be something else. "I was hoping we might have some of the same classes next year," she added in with a wink. Tommy chuckled nervously, and ran his hand over the back of his neck, as he realized it was definitely something else. She was flirting with him. "You ok?" she asked him. "You seem kind of down."

"Oh, um," Tommy stated, trying to force himself to smile. "I'm sorry, I'm just uh…" he stammered, cursing himself silently for failing at coming up with a cover story. All the other rangers were pretty good at it; Granted, he'd only needed to hid his actually identity for a week now, so he wasn't really surprised he was struggling. He just sort of hoped that, with as long as the others said he was going to be a ranger, he got better at it.

"Missing someone at home?" Sarah offered for him. Tommy gave her a weak smile in return, and nodded once. Kira was right. He was that obvious. "It's a girl, isn't it?" Sarah asked him, and once again, Tommy sighed.

"Yeah," he told the teenager in front of him, simply.

"You must like her a lot," Sarah stated, matter of factly. And Tommy beamed. That was an easy one. Like wasn't even the word. He loved her. And despite that in his mind he hadn't asked or out yet, or the fact that he wasn't actually a fifteen year old, dancing with Sarah on the beach, sort of felt to him like cheating. He nodded once, allowing his body to stop moving, as Sarah did as well. "She's lucky to have you," Sarah told him. "You're sweet Tommy," she added, before turning slightly and waving at him over her shoulder. "Thanks for the dance," she said before she disappeared into the crowd, leaving him standing there bewildered for a moment, before he spotted Connor, Kira, and Trent waving at him from the piece of drift wood he'd been at earlier. He cracked a smile, and walked over to them.

"Did you have a little fun?" Kira teased him, noticing the grin on his face.

"Not really," Tommy laughed, shaking his head. "She just reminded me that I'd rather be at home with Kim and the others. Is it time to leave yet?" he added, specifically looking at Connor since it seemed he would be the one that most likely wanted to stay.

"Alright," Connor laughed at him. "We can get going now," he stated, casting his gaze around the beach for the fifth member of their team. "Anyone seen Ethan?" he asked, frowning when he didn't immediately spot him.

"Thought he was with you?" Kira asked, searching as well.

"There he is," Trent stated, pointing another piece of drift wood not too entirely far away. Ethan was sitting side ways on the log, one leg tucked underneath him, while the other remained in the sand to support him. Across from him was a teenage girl, not dressed in a bathing suit. Instead, the girl who had long dark hair and pale skin was sitting cross legged, balancing easily on the log, facing Ethan, and wearing a pair of black jeans and a t-shirt. She was barefoot at the moment, but beside her on the drift wood rested a pair of red converse sneakers. Both individuals were leaning forward, talking, while the girl was showing Ethan a sketch book. "Who's that with him?" Trent asked, frowning.

"No idea," Connor laughed, before putting both of his hands to his mouth. "Yo Ethan!" he called out, getting the blue clad former ranger's attention. Ethan looked up, searching around for the sound, his eyes falling on Connor. Connor grinned and waved, then beckoned Ethan over. They watched as Ethan said something to the girl, then hopped off the driftwood and headed toward his friends.

"We ready to head out?" Ethan asked, clearly realizing that Tommy still looked anxious to leave the beach party. Connor, Trent, and Kira nodded as the group began walking away from the party and towards the parking lot where both Trent and Connor had parked earlier that day.

Connor pulled his keys out of his pocket and began tossing them up and down in the air for a moment before he tossed them to Ethan who caught them easily. "Just in case," Connor told him. He wasn't exactly sure how much alcohol he'd consumed in that one cup, but he didn't want to chance anything. "By the way," he added with a laugh. "Who was the girl? Never seen her before."

"She's new," Ethan laughed. "Just moved here," he added in. "Name's Alex."

"Gotcha," Connor laughed again as the group of five teenagers reached the parking lot and split off into the two cars, Tommy incredibly happy to just be heading home.

* * *

It was about quarter after five when Kimberly pulled Tommy's jeep into the drive way. She'd been blasting the radio, the entire drive home, trying to keep her mind busy and off particular subject matter. It was the same thing she'd been doing since she'd sent Tommy off with the other teenagers. She didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to have Tommy off at a beach party with teenagers. She didn't want him to belong with other teenagers. She wanted him, normal sized, normal aged, and home with her, enjoying a reunion with all of their friends. She put the car in park, and took a deep breath, running her hands over her face as she glanced up to see Rocky's minivan and Jason's car pull in beside her. Immediately realizing she couldn't hear the sounds of their tires on the gravel, Kim adjusted the volume on the stereo so that the others wouldn't hear and question it, as she climbed out of the jeep, meeting them in the driveway.

"Hey guys," she called out, attempting a cheerful smile and a wave, though she felt anything besides cheerful at that moment. She reached into the back of the jeep and grabbed her beach bag and the cooler from the back of the jeep. Without Tommy, it was bit harder to carry, since it still held multiple cans, water bottles, and other drinks, as well as being partially filled with water from the melted ice. As a result, when she didn't get a good grip on it, the cooler slipped from her hand, landing near her foot, as she jumped back, her reflexes still sharp. "Fuck," she muttered. Jason had grabbed his and Trini's bag that held changes of clothing for him, Tyler, and Trini, while Trini was getting Tyler, who'd fallen asleep again, exhausted from the water and sun, out of the car. Beside him, Zack slung his own book bag of clothing over his shoulder. Jason nudged him, indicating Kim, and Zack nodded, immediately going over to her. She was standing, glaring at the fallen cooler, water splashed everywhere, and several drinks had rolled into the driveway and under the jeep. Tears had welled up in her eyes, and she looked to be on the verge of a breakdown.

"I've got it Kim," Zack called out to her, and Kim just took a deep breath and nodded, trying to shake herself out of her funk, she brushed her eyes with the back of her hand, not realizing that everyone else was staring at her. "You ok?" he added, as he stooped down and gathered up the items that had spilled from the cooler.

"Yeah," Kim muttered, before shaking her head. "Yeah," she said a bit louder, forcing her smile back onto her face. "Just a little tired," she added. Zack frowned, but lifted the cooler into his hands and followed her toward the house, casting a concerned look over his shoulder at the others. Rocky and Tanya both just shrugged in response, as they grabbed their own stuff, as well as the two DeSantos children out of the car, along with Adam and Aisha.

Kim let the entire group into the house, dropping the car keys in the bowl that she and Tommy kept near the doorway. "Zack," she stated, "you can set the cooler out on the back porch. I'll clean it out later," she told him, her voice a bit unsteady.

"Sure Kim, no problem," he replied, concern for her still evident in his face, as he went to do as she suggested. She may have tried to hide it from them, but each of her friends knew that something was seriously bothering Kim, more than she was willing to admit. They'd all noticed that her attitude had greatly shifted the moment Connor, Kira, Ethan, Trent, and Tommy had left them.

"Kim?" Trini asked, as she carried the passed out Tyler into the house. His arms dangled down from her shoulders, where his head was laid, and his was mouth partially open. Aisha had Katie in a similar sound asleep position on her own shoulder, while Rocky carried the baby carrier. For once, Luke was actually wide awake, having slept on and off most of the afternoon at the beach. The baby kicked his legs and reached for the toys suspended from the handle. "You mind if we put the kids down for a little bit."

"Not at all," Kim replied with a smile that clearly did not reach her eyes. She knew she probably wasn't fooling them, but at that moment, she really, honestly didn't care. Aisha and Trini nodded, whispering thanks, as they headed towards the two bedrooms to put the toddlers down in the spare room.

"Are you sure you're ok Kimmie?" Jason asked her, setting the bag he carried down on the floor along with the ones Adam and Rocky had deposited, as Zack came back from the back yard and deposited his own.

"Just stop asking me that!" she shouted, quite a bit louder than she'd meant to, causing Jason, who'd been stepping closer to her to jump back. Tanya and Rocky frowned, while Zack and Adam wore confused expressions and wide eyes. Kim sighed, biting down on her trembling lips. Clearly she was not alright. She knew it. They knew it. She knew they knew it. But she didn't want to talk about it. She'd spent two weeks separated from the love of her life that she'd just spent the last eight years not speaking to. She'd expected to come to him. She'd expected to be held by him Friday night. And now, here it was, Sunday night, and he wasn't there. In his place was a fifteen year old, whom she still loved, but couldn't go anywhere near. And every moment that he spent regressed was one more moment that the doubt about them successfully fixing the problem crept further in on her to the point where she felt like she was drowning in her fear.

She shook her head, not even trying to lie again, but she didn't try to deny it. She didn't trust herself to not start sobbing as her tears once again fought their way forward as she made eye contact with Jason. "I…" she began, and her voice shook with the effort. She shook her head again, and Jason noticed her eyes glistening with the unshed tears. "I need a minute," she choked out, turning on her heels. She couldn't look at Jason. Jason had been Tommy's best friend when he was actually fifteen. If not for the current catastrophe, he and Trini and Zack wouldn't be there. But if not for the current catastrophe, she'd have her Tommy with her. It was too much, wanting to be happy they were there, but being so distraught over the reason why. She practically ran out of the room, passing Trini and Aisha on the way to her bedroom, where she nearly slammed the door behind her.

"Well," Adam stated, drawing out the word and looking from Rocky to Jason to Zack and Tanya as Trini and Aisha joined them in the living room. Tanya placed her hand on his shoulder, giving him a questioning look. "That was," he added, trying to find the right word to describe Kimberly's behavior.

"Strange?" Rocky finished for him, frowning in the direction that Kimberly had fled as he set the baby carrier down.

"What happened?" Trini asked her husband, concern on her face as she made eye contact with Tanya and then each of the guys. Zack and Rocky both shrugged, because in reality they had absolutely no idea how to describe the incident. Adam sighed and shook his head, cradling it in his hand. Jason frowned.

"I asked if she was ok, and next thing we know, she's practically sobbing and racing toward her room," Jason replied. Trini frowned and bit her lip, thinking for a moment. She looked at Aisha, who raised her eyebrow in response, a silent exchange taking place between the two women.

"You think?" Trini asked her successor. Aisha sighed and nodded, a frown on her features. "We'll be back," Trini told Jason, standing on her tippy toes and giving him a light kiss on the lips, before patting his chest. "Trust us," she told him. "She'll be ok," she added, realizing that Jason was really concerned about their pink ranger. Jason set his expression into a grim line, as Aisha gave Rocky a quick kiss as well. He nodded, watching as the two women retreated back down the hall, leaving Tanya as the only woman in the room.

Trini reached Kim's closed bedroom door first and knocked lightly. When there was no answer, she turned the handle, almost surprised to find that it wasn't locked. She pushed the door open and let herself and Aisha in, closing the door with a click behind her. "Guys," Kimberly's voice stated, although it sounded shaky and it was clear she'd been crying, her sobs having started the moment she'd take refuge in her room. "I just need a few minutes," she stated, not looking at who was in the room.

Trini and Aisha both ignored her, and walked over to the King sized bed where Kim was curled up in the fetal position in the center, her head propped up on a few pillows. Her back was to the door, while she faced the windows that looked out on the back of the house. Kim had something wrapped tightly in her grasp as she cried, tears running down her face. Trini walked around the bed and sat down where Kim could see her, realizing her friend held an off white teddy bear with a green nose. Clearly a St. Patrick's Day bear, but Trini knew why it would have been comforting at that moment. Aisha crawled onto the bed from the other direction, stretching out behind her friend and throwing her arm around her, while Trini laid down facing her, placing one hand under her head and the other on top of Aisha's hand. Kim released the bear with one hand and grabbed their joined hands, breaking down into hysterics, her two former teammates letting her cry it out for several minutes.

None of them spoke as Kim cried. Instead, Aisha and Trini were just there. They'd sensed that Kim was on the verge of a breakdown all day, and at seemed that she'd finally reached her breaking point when she'd sent Tommy off with the other dino thunder rangers. At that point, they knew words weren't what were needed; just their presence as the former pink ranger cried herself out.

When her sobbing finally died away, leaving a few hiccups in their place, the three women sat up. Kim crossed her legs underneath her, seating the teddy bear in her lap, so that she could rest her chin on top of its head. Aisha put her knees together, and turned slightly on her side, wrapping her arm protectively around Kim's shoulders, while Trini folded one leg underneath her, and let the other dangle off the end of the bed, placing one hand on Kim's knee. For a few more moments the only sounds in the room were their breathing and Kim's quieting hiccups. Finally, Trini sighed. "So," she stated, calmly and gently. "Are you ready to tell us yet?"

"Tell you what?" Kimberly asked, frowning and shaking her head. Aisha gave her a slight comforting smile, but shook her head, realizing Kim was going to be stubborn as ever. She could deny it all she wanted.

"Don't give us that. We know," Aisha stated, with a bit of humor in her voice. She glanced up to make sure that the door to the bedroom was closed.

"Know what?" Kimberly asked them, still frowning. Now it was Trini's turn to smile, although hers was more of a smirk. She rolled her eyes slightly, thinking about how obstinate Kimberly was being.

"Stop trying to hide it," Trini stated, shifting so she could hug Kim around the other shoulder like Aisha was. "Jason told me you wouldn't touch a cup of coffee," she added, letting the pink clad former ranger in on what she and Aisha had pieced together.

"Or alcohol; You said you were too tired to go in the ocean all day," Aisha added on, her smile gentle "And let's face it girl," she laughed lightly, squeezing Kim's shoulders. "You've been an emotional wreck."

"I have not," Kimberly tried to defend herself, although the argument was weak. She glared at the two women surrounding her halfheartedly. She didn't like where the conversation was going.

"Yes you have," Trini laughed. "You almost broke down sobbing yesterday when you thought Tommy thought you were old. I know you weren't acting," she added when Kim opened her mouth to defend herself. The guys may have been fooled; and maybe Aisha hadn't caught that one; and Tanya didn't know her well enough, but Trini had known Kim's tears were real from the get go. "And you just spent the last fifteen minutes locked in your bedroom sobbing over the fact that he's off with Kira, Connor, Ethan, and Trent, instead of here with you."

"Girl," Aisha stated, "you nearly broke into hysterics over a cooler falling. You are an emotional disaster zone," she laughed gently.

"So what?" Kimberly growled, shaking her head, and clutching her bear tighter. "I'm entitled. My boyfriend has been turned into a damn child for crying out loud!" she stated, her voice elevating slightly.

"Don't you mean the father of your child?" Trini asked her, eyebrow raised. "Kim," she stated. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

* * *

Ok, so pretty sure some of you saw it coming. I have been hinting at it since chapter 5, but yeah, you all know the answer to Trini's question, I hope. LOL.

Really hope you enjoyed. And yeah, as usual, support The Order (and if you don't know what The Order is, shame. Shame on you - use google).

Thanks in advance for all any and all reviews. I really poured a lot into this chapter, and the chaos that's going to follow.

And a quick reminder, tomorrow, while you're all BBQing, etc, remember to take a moment for our troops. Memorial Day is not national BBQ day.

Fateless


	13. Chapter 13

Lookit! LOL. An Update just about every 2 days.

Anyway, really glad you all seemed to react positively to the newest twist. I honestly wasn't sure how you'd all take it, but I wanted it in there. For those of you who have been saying it, yes - I assure you there will eventually be a Tommy freak out. Just haven't determined when or how; Give it time.

So, without anything further - Happy Reading.

* * *

Kimberly froze as Trini's question sank into her. For several moments, she looked down at her lap, steadying her own breathing. She knew Aisha and Trini were both watching her and that neither was going to leave or say another word until she answered the question, despite the fact that of course they knew the answer. They just wanted her to say it. She shook her head lightly, telling herself she was slightly pathetic. She was a power ranger. She wasn't supposed to be locked in a bedroom sobbing her eyes out when things got tough. She was supposed to be brave and strong and a fighter. Tommy's regression should not have scared her so badly. She closed her eyes and gulped, figuratively swallowing her fear, before opening her eyes slowly and meeting the gazes of her two best friends.

"Yes," she replied simply, nodding once. That one small word carried a huge impact, as she admitted the truth that she knew they had already figured out. She gave them a tiny, almost invisible smile as she waited for their reaction, her head sinking into her shoulders, as she withdrew, sort of like a turtle.

Within milliseconds both former yellow rangers squealed in delight as Kimberly confirmed their theory, and launched themselves onto her, hugging her and wrestling her backwards on the bed, laughing. Kim couldn't help it, their laughter was contagious, and she found herself laughing slightly as well as they hugged her tightly. That was the response to her news that Kim needed. While she always thought they'd be happy, part of her was worried she'd be judged slightly; after all, she and Tommy had only been back together for a few months, they weren't married, and she was pretty sure they weren't planning on tying the knot anytime soon. And there was one very important reason she hadn't said anything to them earlier. As she thought about it, her laughter turned into slight crying, as Trini and Aisha helped her sit back up.

"Oh Kim," Trini stated, hugging her best friend around the head and smoothing her hair, though she was smiling and laughing at the poor girl and her mood swings. She wiped Kim's eyes with her hand. "You haven't told him yet, huh?"

"No," Kim sniffled; wiping her own nose and laughing at how ridiculous she was acting. Damn baby. Damn mood swings. She was pretty sure she wasn't that far along, and she was already going nuts. "I found out the day after I got to Paris," she explained. "I didn't want to tell him over the phone," she added.

"You were going to tell him Friday night," Aisha confirmed with a nod, looking at Kim who appeared to be on the verge of either hysterical laughter or tears; she didn't think even the poor former pink ranger had any idea which one. Aisha chuckled, and hugged her tightly. "You poor thing," she added in. "Baby is doing a number on your emotions, huh?"

"I don't know whether I should laugh, cry, or scream," Kimberly confessed, throwing her hands up and shaking her head. "And I'm starting to feel nauseous at times too," she added, turning slightly green as she thought about the fact that she'd spent a few minutes that morning leaning over the toilet bowl as quietly as she could. She'd wanted Tommy to be there, holding her hair in his hands as his child caused her to dump the contents of her stomach. Unfortunately, the idea of dragging the confused and nervous teenager out of the bed in the next room freaked her out. She was pretty sure it would have freaked him out too, not that she really cared about his emotions at the current moment. This was all his fault anyway.

Aisha and Trini both laughed at her gently, hugging her from both sides around the shoulders again. "Sounds about right," Aisha laughed. "Pretty sure Rocky wanted to move out both times while I was pregnant."

"Do you know how far along?" Trini asked her, "I mean, when did?" she began, as the three women pulled apart after a few minutes of just hugging Kimberly in silence.

Kimberly chuckled lightly in response. Of course they'd want to know the details. They were her two best friends, and they'd both been through this before. It didn't surprise her all that much that they'd figured it out. She hadn't really done that great of job of hiding it. She just got lucky that most of her former teammates were male, and therefore oblivious. "About two months, I think," Kimberly replied, as she though back over the last time she'd had a visit from her monthly friend. She'd been pretty late when she'd finally given in and taken a pregnancy test in Paris. She hadn't even let on to Tommy that she'd been slightly worried about it before she left. "It was kind of an accident," she stated. "The one time we forgot the condom."

Grinning, Trini shook her head. "And what would make you both forget that?" Although they weren't married, they were adults. This was something handle-able. It wasn't like they were still in high school.

"Wait two months?" Aisha asked. "Didn't dino thunder lose their powers two months ago?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Kimberly who blushed and nodded once. Aisha had figured it out. She started to snicker.

"What!" Kimberly laughed. "I was trying to cheer him up," she added with a giggle, pulling her knees into her chest, as Trini realized what the other two were saying, and laughed along with. Kim sighed after a few moments and shook her head. "I'm sorry for hiding it, I just… I wanted him to be the first to know."

"Well, of course you did," Trini told her. Jason was the first person she'd told, and she was positive Aisha had told Rocky first, both times. Tommy should have been the first to know he was going to be a father. Unfortunately, there were several things Tommy should have been at the moment, but wasn't. "Have you gone to the doctor to confirm?"

"I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon at one," Kimberly replied with a nod. "I was just going to tell everyone I had an errand to run," she added in, and the two former yellow rangers nodded, hugging her again. "I'm still kind of in disbelief. I tried not to think about it the whole time I was with my mom, so it kind of just hit me that this could definitely be real."

"Judging from how you've been acting, it is definitely real," Aisha laughed at her and then touched Kim's abdomen. "Hi baby! You're driving mommy almost as nuts as your daddy," she laughed, talking to her friend's stomach. Kimberly swatted her away, laughing as well. "What? It's true," Aisha stated, and all three individuals started laughing.

"So," Trini asked. "You ready to go rejoin society?" She gestured towards the door, indicating Tanya and the male rangers who were waiting on them to return. She knew they were all worried, but hoped Jason had enough forethought to insist that they trust Aisha and her to handle things. "I'm pretty sure if we don't get back soon, the cavalry might arrive."

"Riding zords instead of horses," Aisha laughed, shaking her head. Kimberly laughed as well and nodded as the three girls stood up. "You going to tell them all?"

Kimberly shook her head. "Can we just keep it between us for now? I mean, at least until after the doctor's appointment. Then I'll decide when the right time to tell everyone is, considering Tommy's kind of um, not really equipped to handle this."

"Fair enough," Trini stated, nodding, as she opened Kim's bedroom door and led the way back towards the living room. "Look who we brought back," she stated when they entered, stopping short and frowning. Kim and Aisha both walked into her slightly, surprised by the fact that she'd suddenly stopped her forward motion.

"What's wrong?" Aisha asked, standing on her tippy toes so she could peer over Trini's shoulders, frowning.

"They're gone," Trini stated, looking around at the empty living room in disbelief, her eyes falling on the pile of bags that she was positive had been pretty neat and organized when she and Aisha had left the living room. Aside from the fact that it was no longer organized, there were wet towels, flip flops, and beach attire strew around the small area. She instantly recognized the red and black checkered swim trunks sticking half out of the bag that held her hair brush. She walked over to it and picked it up, sighing, and pulling her dry clothing out of it to change. "Where the hell did they go now?"

* * *

"You think Kim will be alright?" Zack asked, as he tossed his swim trunks haphazardly into his back pack, before placing it back down in the pile, after nodding to Rocky to let him go use Tommy's only bathroom to change. He plopped down on the sofa beside Jason and Tanya, who was holding Luke, bouncing the baby on her lap.

"Aisha and Trini are taking care of her," Jason replied with a nod, though his expression did still show some concern. Kimberly's behavior really had him worried. Especially after he'd heard about what had happened four months before. He wondered if something could be majorly wrong. He'd definitely need to talk to Billy about it when he got there. He sighed and shook his head. "She'll be ok," he added.

"What do you think tipped her over the edge?" Adam asked. He was trying to reorganize his and Tanya's bag and was completely failing, due to the slightly damp nature of the materials he was trying to place in it. Mentally, he said fuck it, and tossed the bag back down on the floor, before sitting on the back of the sofa, and placing his hand on Tanya's shoulder.

"She sent Tommy off to hang out with a group of teenagers," Jason replied, with a slight smirk. As much as Kim had gone on about making sure Tommy was seen acting like a typical fifteen year old, he knew she hadn't been happy to have him off with other individuals his own current physical and mental age. He'd seen it in her face. She did not want to share him, and while he doubted she was worried about Tommy's affection straying from her teenage self, Jason knew she would have been very wary of the teenage girls. Tommy didn't always pay the best attention to the people around him or what their intentions were.

"That's just dumb," Adam stated matter of factly. Sure they'd been separated for years, but if he knew that there was nothing for Kim to worry about, surely Kim should have realized it to. Tanya gaped at him, with a slight smile on her face and hit him with the back of her hand. Adam made a face, pretending to be wounded, and then laughed.

"I think the sun messed with her mind; she's not thinking straight," Jason added, shaking his head. He completely agreed with Adam. Never mind his own feelings toward Tommy at the moment; he knew that when it came to Tommy and Kim, Kimberly had absolutely nothing to worry about. Even if Tommy had been reverted to a time when he and Kim weren't dating, Tommy would never do anything to jeopardize his chances with the former pink ranger, unless of course he was under an evil spell cast by a psychotic space witch. Then, all bets were off.

"He's been hung up on Kimberly since day one; you could surround that boy with a bunch of scantily clad female super models," Zack laughed, "and he wouldn't look at a single one of them, even if Kimberly were four thousand miles away," he explained, amusement clear on his face.

"Someone say scantily clad female super models?" Connor's voice asked from the doorway, where he was letting himself and the other four teenagers into the house. "Cause I could definitely go for some of those."

"Sorry," Tanya laughed. "No super models here," she called back to the teenager, smiling and leaning back against the couch, letting Adam rub the back of her neck slightly.

"I beg to differ," Adam told her, leaning down and planting a kiss on her lips as she rotated her head backwards. Connor, Ethan, and Zack each made a face at the former black ranger's show of affection. It wasn't cool when Tommy and Kim did it, it wasn't cool when any of the other ranger couples they knew fairly well did it. Jason just smirked.

"How was the party?" Jason asked as the five teenagers filed into the room. The question may have been a general one, but his eyes were on Tommy, as it was his answer that he cared about the most. He raised his eyebrow at the teenager, waiting for a response.

"Horrible," the teenager stated, with a smirk, and a shake of his head, as he sat down on the floor. He felt so much more relaxed now that he wasn't surrounded by girls asking him to dance, or trying to flirt with him. He didn't like being flirted with, as he wasn't great at it himself. In his mind, he was still trying to comprehend how he was ever even going to get Kimberly to agree to go out on one date with him. The fact that she'd eventually end up living with him was still blowing his brain. As much as the adult versions of his friends freaked him out slightly, it was much easier to be surrounded by them, than other teenagers.

"What was horrible?" Rocky asked, entering the living room, holding his beach clothing wadded up into a ball. He went to his and Aisha's bag and shoved it inside. "Hey guys," he added, spotting the five newly arrived teenagers, three of whom, waved back, as the other two weren't paying much attention. Connor was laughing at Tommy's response, while the former adult was glaring at him.

"The party wasn't that bad," Connor smirked, falling into Tommy's arm chair in the living room. He and Ethan had left their changes of clothes in Connor's car, and had changed at the beach before driving back. Kira held her beach bag slung over her shoulder, having retrieved it from the jeep when they got back. Trent took it from her and dug through it, looking for his dry shorts, before giving her a smile and heading back down the hallway, smirking and shaking his head at Tommy and Connor. Tommy rolled his eyes at Connor and shook his head. "It wasn't!" Connor insisted with a laugh. "You danced with a pretty hot girl."

"What?" Jason, Adam, Rocky, and Zack all stated at once, while Tanya gave him a strange look and raised her eyebrow in question. Tommy sighed and shook his head, blushing. Was she hot? He hadn't noticed? He'd been too busy trying to keep his calm and get the hell out of there.

"I hated every moment of it," Tommy insisted. "She wasn't Kimberly," he added, simply. He didn't need to elaborate. He'd figured out that if these people were really who they claimed to be; if they were really his friends; they'd understand what he meant by those three simple words.

"Speaking of Kimberly," Ethan stated, looking around and realizing that there were three adults missing. He frowned.

"She's in the bedroom with Trini and Aisha," Rocky stated quickly, and Kira caught on to the hesitation in his expression. While Rocky didn't really care about the real teens finding out that Kim had about had a nervous breakdown, he was pretty sure Tommy knowing wouldn't be good for the teenager. "Kim is showing them, something," he stated vaguely, mentally cursing himself. He'd definitely learned how to create a cover story for covert ranger missions. But he hadn't quite figured out how to lie convincingly to other rangers. He ran his hand through his hair, as he looked up and met Kira's suspicious gaze.

"Kids napping in the spare room?" she asked Rocky, who nodded in response, realizing the teenager was taking pity on him by changing the topic. Kira nodded once and smirked. "Well, I need to get out of this wet suit," she added, turning her back. "I'm changing in the kitchen. Come in, and I'll kill you," she added, mainly talking to Connor.

"Once was enough," Adam called after her, a mischievous grin on his face. Kira turned back to look at him over her shoulder, her mouth wide open, her eyes laughing, but she was glaring at him at the same time, as if she couldn't believe what he'd just said. He dissolved into laughter, nearly falling off the back of the sofa where he was still perched at her expression.

"He had a bit too much to drink," Tanya stated, looking back and forth between the surprised Kira and the hysterical Adam. She shook her head. "Go," she told the girl. "I'll make sure none of them attempt to follow."

"Pedophilia is not my thing," Zack laughed, rolling his eyes at Adam. "Is he going to be ok?"

"Not sure," Tanya confessed, grinning in response. "Besides, it's not pedophilia anymore. She's legal," she added with a giggle.

"Ok," Jason stated, standing up and stretching. "Before this gets any weirder, what's the plan for the evening?" He cast his gaze around the room, getting puzzled looks and shrugs from the rest of group.

"Don't really think there really were any plans," Connor replied, with a shrug. "But I could use a work out," he added. "What do you say Ethan?"

"Spar?" Ethan asked, raising one eyebrow at his former team leader. "With you?" he added in, shaking his head. "I don't know Connor, it's been a long day."

"Come on dude," Connor begged, standing up and bouncing back on and forth on his feet lightly, jabbing at the air. He lightly made contact with Ethan's shoulder. Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes, as Trent rejoined them in the living room. Not finding Kira's beach bag, he tossed his damp trunks into the same pile as the rest of the former rangers' gear.

"I'll go," Trent told Connor with a grin. Connor responded with a smirk. "You guys up for it, too?" he asked the adults and Tommy.

"Sure, why not," Jason laughed, making eye contact with the regressed individual on the sofa. Tommy met his gaze squarely, a slight smirk of his own as his expression. Rocky, Adam, and Zack looked back and forth between Jason to the teenager, wondering exactly what was going through each of their minds, while Tanya just sighed and shook her head, shifting Luke into a balanced position in her arms, before standing and placing him in his baby carrier.

"Kira," she called into the kitchen, hearing Kira's voice answer with 'hmm' in response. "We're going downstairs to watch the guys try and kick each other's asses. Meet us down there?"

"You got it," Kira called back, and Tanya shook her head, at the laughter that came from each of the guys in the room. She was pretty much right. They were planning to kick each other's asses. After all, they all needed to prove that after all the years out of uniform, they still had it. And, there were new (and old) people to test their skills against.

They'd all been downstairs for about twenty minutes when Aisha, Trini, and Kim joined them, which was long enough for several sparing matches to have taken place. Connor and Trent were each sitting on the floor, their backs against the stone walls, chugging bottles of water, clearly having exhausted themselves. Ethan and Tommy were near the computers, Ethan sitting in one of the chairs, while Tommy leaned against the desk, both watching current match between Adam and Rocky. Kira watched as well, sitting with her legs crossed on top of Tommy's desk. Tanya sat on a nearby leather sofa, bouncing Luke on her lap, while Zack leaned back against the wall beside her, his ankles crossed and his arms folded over his chest. On Tanya's other side, Jason sat on the sofa, elbows resting on his knees as he watched two of his former teammates go at it. "Hey Kim, all good?" Jason stated, glancing away from the match for a brief second. Even before she answered, his eyes had gone back to watch the match.

The two individuals who'd been further apart when the girls entered the room, clashed back at each other, catching each other's strikes with the opposite forearm, as bare skin struck bare skin. Adam blocked Rocky's next left strike with his right arm, swinging it down and leaving an opening to strike with his own left fist. However, before he could, Rocky countered with another swing of his left arm, causing Adam to have to duck beneath it. He came back up and swiftly punched with his right fist, causing Rocky to jump back slightly to avoid being struck, as he blocked with his right arm. Adam moved his right arm backwards in an attempt at a backhanded punch, which Rocky blocked with an inward motion of his left arm, and then countered with a strike from his right fist, which Adam blocked with his left arm. Rocky jabbed forward again with a strike aimed at Adam's face, which he blocked by swinging his left arm up to protect himself. Rocky jumped back and swung his left leg in a high kick, hitting Adam in the chest and causing him to stumble back before he quickly regained his footing, and countered with his own left jab towards Rocky's head. Rocky blocked it with a right inward block, and then had to counter Adam's right punch with an inward block with his left arm.

"All good," Kimberly replied with a nod, as she and the other two women paused in the entrance way, watching the two guys go at it. "How long have they been at it?"

Adam twisted, turning his back and did a flying spinning kick towards Rocky with his right leg. At the last moment, Rocky went into a deep split, allowing himself to sink below Adam's leg, leaning forward, and pressing his chest toward the ground to avoid his head being grazed. As Adam stepped back into an offensive stance, Rocky pushed himself easily back to his feet, rolling forward to dodge as Adam spun and jumped on his right foot, his left leg rotating in the air as he attempted to land the kick on Rocky. Rocky twisted on his toes and pressed himself back into a crouched position as Adam's leg struck the ground right where his body had been a second before. He stood back up and swung his right leg in a kick towards Adam, forcing Adam to roll onto his right side to avoid being struck. Adam jumped to his feet, back angled toward Rocky, who came at him.

"Not long," Tanya told her, as Aisha gave her two childhood friends a wide berth, as she walked over to join Tanya and Jason on the couch. Jason shifted slightly to the side, allowing Aisha to sit beside Tanya, never taking his eyes off the match. Trini could tell he was analyzing every move each of the guys made, computing how he'd move differently or if he'd make a similar attack or defense. She grinned, as watching him, at least for her, was almost as fun as watching Adam and Rocky. Tanya turned and handed Luke to his mother, who positioned the boy on her lap, holding each of his hands in hers, and making him clap. The baby giggled. "A couple minutes."

"Say go Daddy," Aisha laughed. "Go Uncle Adam," she added in, knowing she really couldn't root for one and not the other.

Rocky jumped with both feet lightly, and sent his right leg in a second high kick, while his left leg extended back to the ground for stability. Adam countered by spinning on his left leg and doing a back kick with his right, both of their legs meeting in the air. The force of Adam's kick caused Rocky's leg to circle back around, positioning him in a forward offensive lunge, while Adam's leg came to rest behind him, causing him to maintain a stance in which he needed to watch Rocky over his shoulder. Rocky shielded his chest with his left arm and threw a back handed punch at Adam with is right fist. Adam spun on his toes, turning to face Rocky. He caught the punch on his right arm, and twisted his wrist so he could grab Rocky's right one, preventing him from pulling away. Adam swung a blow across his chest with his left arm, causing Rocky to duck to avoid being struck in the side of the head. Adam used Rocky's arm as leverage, and launched himself off the ground, jumping with his right leg and sending his left leg into a high kick. As his body turned, he took Rocky's wrist with him, sending Rocky rotating backward. Adam released his hold as Rocky leaned backward, his left arm down catching himself as Adam closed a scissor kick around his right arm and both men landed on the mat that the teenagers had dragged out to prevent injuries. Adam re-grabbed Rocky's wrist in both hands. His left leg was now over Rocky's neck as Adam used the weight of his right leg against his chest to force Rocky into submission on the ground. Rocky, unable to speak due to the positioning, patted Adam's leg with his left hand three times to signal surrender. Adam smirked, and released him.

"Dude," Ethan stated from his vantage point. "That was epic," he added, his eyes wide as Adam and Rocky climbed to their feet and began wiping sweat off their faces. The two of them grinned at each other, and then looked at Ethan. Beside him, Tommy nodded eagerly. If those were the skills his future teammates possessed, he knew he'd happily welcome them to his team and trust them with his life.

"I don't know about epic," Adam laughed, shaking his head in amusement at the teenage boy. "But it was a good match," he added.

"Maybe for you," Rocky argued, chuckling slightly as he made his way over to his wife and son. Aisha held the baby up towards his father as Rocky bent down towards him. Luke patted Rocky on both of his cheeks with his hands, babbling happily, completely unaware that his father had lost.

"Don't be a sore loser," Adam laughed at him, picking up the hem of his t-shirt and wiping his brow with it. He was grinning and knew that Rocky was anything but a sore loser. The two just had fun teasing each other. "Besides, I owed you for taking me down last week in front of my class," he added in with a smirk.

"Hey," Rocky laughed, lifting Luke out of Aisha's arms. He held the baby against his chest, one arm under his diapered bottom, and the other wrapped around his chest. He bounced the boy a few times. "There was a purpose in that. They had to be shown their teacher wasn't invincible," Rocky explained, a grin on his face.

"Whatever," Adam laughed, shaking his head, and falling onto the couch as Tanya vacated her spot, switching to the arm rest so her fiancé could comfortably catch his breath. She handed him her water bottle, which he happily accepted. "Who's next?" he asked, looking around at the group, and raising his eyebrow.

"How about it Kim? Want to have a go?" Kira asked, pushing herself off Tommy's desk, but launching both feet into the air. She landed with a bit of a hop step, a grin on her face as she walked to the center of the mats, pulling a black hair tie off her wrist and securing her long hair behind her head. Everyone else looked at Kim, waiting for her answer.

For a brief moment, panic appeared on Kimberly's face as she tried to react as quickly as possible and come up with an excuse as to why she didn't want to spar with Kira on the mats. She definitely wasn't ready to admit the truth. While in her mind, it felt like she was thinking forever, in reality, it was barely a millisecond until Trini spoke up. "Actually," she laughed. "I'd like to see what the newbie's got, if you don't mind Kim?" she asked her friend, a genuine smile on her face, as she approached Kira in the center of the mat.

Kim sighed in relief, as well as gratitude and smiled back at Trini. "Be my guest," she laughed. "Don't go easy on her because she's a kid," she added in, with a giggle, before walking over to where Kira had been seated, and reclining in Tommy's desk chair. Kimberly picked up one of the foam stress balls he had on the desk and began tossing it back and forth in her hands, as she put her right knee on top of her left.

"Hey," Kira laughed. "It's not me you want to be worried about. I'm not the one who's probably rusty," she laughed. Trini laughed in response, as both women bowed to one another and stepped backwards with opposite feet, assuming a ready stance. Unlike the guys, both girls started with their palms open, raised in front of their bodies for defense. Both girls nodded to one another before they slowly began circling each other.

Kira was the first to decide to strike. She curled her right hand into a fist and jabbed forward with it. Trini rotated her left arm sideways, catching Kira's arm on her own forearm, while drawing her right arm backwards, and then thrusting it forward, her palm flat against Kira's sternum. Kira stumbled backwards slightly before regaining her footing, slightly surprised. Trini raised her eyebrow briefly and Kira realized, powers or not, Trini never would have let herself get rusty. She lunged back at Trini, swinging her right arm high towards her face. Trini ducked, dodging to the side, expecting Kira to aim a second blow with her left arm. Instead, Kira stooped low, swinging her leg out in a circular motion. Trini, instantly realized that Kira was attempting to knock her off her feet, and jumped into the air with both legs, Kira's kick, narrowly missing. Trini landed back in her ready stance, while Kira turned on her toes so that her back was to Trini. This time, she aimed a back kick with her right leg at Trini's chest. The first yellow ranger caught the younger girl's ankle in her hands, and smirked, before she twisted Kira's leg to the left. Knowing she was stuck, Kira, jumped and twisted with her leg to avoid being injured. Kira spun in the air, in a move similar to the one in her morphing sequence, and landed, facing Trini. Her right front leg was extended straight out in front of her, while her left back leg was bent, knee pointing in the opposite direction, allowing her to be lower to the ground. Her left arm was raised, palm facing her right shoulder as a guard, while her right arm was extended, palm forward to protect her face. Trini had stepped back, assuming a forward lunge, both hands raised to guard her face as both girls breathed deeply and continuously, pausing in their attacks. Everyone watched them quietly, although both Jason and Trent were grinning, clearly impressed by their respective partners.

Almost as if in silent agreement, both Kira and Trini lunged forward toward each other. Kira aimed a right mid punch, which Trini countered with a left handed inward block, not surprised that Kira repeated the same move with her other hand. This time, Trini countered with an outward block, and then swept her left arm back in to attack with her own punch toward Kira's head. Kira crossed both of her wrists over her head in a block, as Trini mirrored Kira's earlier move of a sweeping kick at her ankles. The younger yellow rangers launched herself into the air, flipping backwards, and coming to a landing in a crouch, a few feet away from Trini. Both former yellow rangers looked up at one another, intense looks in their eyes for a few moments, before they each cracked a smile and stood up, walking toward each other and bowing, calling their own match a draw, although it had only lasted about half a minute. Both women had decided that rather than continue to go at it until someone made a mistake, they were pretty evenly matched.

"Nice job Kira!" Trent called out, a grin on his face, although he was still too tired to move. He and Connor had gone at it the longest, not really knowing when to conceded victory or that they were evenly matched.

"Awesome!" Connor added with a nod as both individuals beamed at their former teammate with pride, impressed that she could hold her own with one of Earth's original rangers.

"That was really good," Trini laughed, hugging Kira around the shoulder as they walked off the mats, toward the sofa where Jason sat with Adam and Aisha. "You've got talent."

"We had a good teacher," Kira stated, casting her eyes over to Tommy. Trini, Jason, and Zack each followed her gaze to their regressed friend, who blushed slightly when he realized that Kira was referring to him.

"Teacher, huh?" Jason laughed. He wasn't quite in the mood to admit he was impressed with the skills his former best friend had taught Kira, as well as the moves he'd seen during Trent and Connor's earlier match. First, the compliment might go to the boy's head. Second, if Tommy remembered any of this when he was back to normal, Jason wasn't ready to grant him such a compliment. Not when he still wanted to kick his ass to Rita and Zedd's palace on the moon. "I think he's maybe got a few things left the learn himself."

"Oh really?" Tommy laughed, allowing himself to relax. "And who's going to teach them to me? You, old man?" he taunted.

"Bro," Jason laughed. "Remember what happened last time you went with the 'old' comments?" he asked the boy, raising his eyebrow in taunt. Tommy cast his glance nervously at both Kimberly and Trini. Trini was standing beside Jason, a bottle of water raised to her lips with one hand, while the other rested on her hip. She was giving him a look that suggested she wasn't too tired to kick his ass as well. Kimberly, had leaned forward and had her elbows resting on her knees, her chin in her palms. She wore an innocent smirk that sent chills down the boy's spine. Tommy chuckled nervously, and ran his hand through his hair.

"Good point," he laughed. "Still," he added, nodding toward the mats, and meeting Jason's gaze. Jason grinned and rubbed his palms together. He was going to enjoy this.

Both individuals walked out onto the mats, as Trini and Kira both fell into Jason's vacated spot on the sofa. "What do you think is going to happen?" Kira whispered to Adam beside her, who had a perplexed expression on his face. Adam actually shrugged in response. Every other time he'd seen Jason and Tommy go at it, it had ended in a draw. But every other time he'd seen them go at it, they'd been the same age. He knew from the very start, Tommy was an extremely skilled martial artist, but Jason was too, and at the present, Jason had size, strength, and additional years of training on the teenager. Still, like he'd thought earlier, Tommy had never lost a match to Jason. He wondered if the morphing grid would allow it to happen now.

Just like Kira and Trini, Tommy and Jason proceeded to bow to each other, but when they both looked up there were cynical, determined smiles on both of their faces. They each assumed a forward lunge style stance, both with their right legs forward, hands raised as fists to either strike or block. Within seconds, Tommy sprung up on his left leg, aiming a high kick toward Jason, who blocked it with his hand. Tommy kicked again and this time Jason caught it on his arm, rotating Tommy's leg back to the ground as he stepped back, both individuals reacting faster than any of the others had ever seen before. Both individuals were determined to claim victory over the other. Ethan, Kira, Trent, and Connor were all taken back by how quickly they moved. Jason stepped forward with his left leg and kicked first toward Tommy with his right leg, and then his left in succession, causing the teenager to have to raise both hands in block over his upper torso and face as he backed up, staying light on his toes. Tommy immediately responded with a kick towards Jason's chest with his left leg, spinning on the toes of his right foot. Jason blocked it with his left forearm, as he stepped his right foot back and bent his left leg forward to brace himself for the impact. Jason stepped back as Tommy stepped forward with a right punch, which Jason blocked by throwing his left arm into a block, and swing it out behind him as Tommy withdrew his fists. Jason immediately spun a kick towards Tommy who ducked, and knowing the teenagers sparing style, he went into his own duck as Tommy completed a jumping spin kick over his head. As the teenager came down, Jason aimed a short punch to his gut, which Tommy easily blocked, bouncing backwards, as Jason smirked, and the two began circling each other.

"Oh boy," Zack laughed, holding his head in his hands as he shook it back and forth slightly. He knew exactly what Jason's smirk meant. Kira tore her eyes away from the match for a split second to frown at him, confused by his reaction. Adam, Tanya, Trini, Aisha, Rocky, and Kim all wore smirks that matched Zack's, while Ethan, Connor, and Trent were all intently watching the match, she doubted that they heard Zack speak.

"What?" Kira asked, a puzzled look on her face. "What's wrong?" she added, definitely unsure of what Zack was concerned about.

"Jason's playing with him," Trini replied from her other side, shaking her head in slight amusement, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Huh?" Kira responded, looking back out on the mats where Jason and Tommy were. To her, it looked as if both were putting in everything they had. But while Tommy's expression was one of clear determination, and a little smugness, Jason's was a simple smirk, but his eyes showed calm and confident. "I don't get it," she stated.

"Watch closely," Adam told her quietly. "Tommy thinks Jason and he are evenly matched as always. He's been throwing in everything he's got; but Jason's been holding back," Adam explained to her, and Kira frowned as Tommy reinitiated the match, darting forward to strike Jason with a jab. Jason blocked it, throwing his strength behind it and forcing Tommy back. Tommy repeated the strike with each hand, five times, and was surprised when each was blocked with ease by Jason. And each time, Jason advanced on him slightly, pushing the teenager closer to the edge of the mat. Tommy frowned, surprised for a moment, while Jason just raised his eyebrows, a thin smile on his lips. Jason did a low spin kick, aimed at Tommy's shins, forcing the regressed ranger to jump backward a bit more to avoid being struck. Tommy leaned forward in attempt to catch Jason with a strike to his sternum as the larger man landed, but was surprised when Jason immediately crouched down and lightning fast, swept his leg out in a kick. This took Tommy off his feet and caused the teenager to land on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs, as Jason knelt over him on his knee, surprising the four teenagers, who'd never seen their leader truly bested.

"You ok, bro?" Jason asked him, a grin on his face. Tommy's eyes were closed, and he was breathing slowly and deeply, his back slightly arched; his face however, was that of someone desperately trying not to show any weakness.

"I'm fine," Tommy replied, a little bit coldly, as he bent his knees and elbows so his hands were beside his ears. Jason smirked and shook his head as Tommy pushed, jumping back into an upright position, clearly not ready to accept defeat.

"If you say so," Jason stated, rolling his eyes. Knowing the teenager wouldn't wait, Jason did a high kick with his right leg, which Tommy blocked with his left arm, stepping back. Jason immediately attacked again with a left kick, which Tommy again hit away with his left hand. Jason, sensing what was coming, retreated and dodged to the side as Tommy bounced forward, spinning and kicking up over Jason's head with his left leg, and Jason sank onto his hands and left knee to avoid being hit. Jason immediately jumped to his feet, moving in on Tommy as his spin finished. Jason wrapped his right arm behind Tommy's head, and positioned his right leg between Tommy's two feet. Immediately, he closed his grip, grabbing Tommy's shoulder, extended his right leg, and turned his hip, rolling Tommy's torso forward, so that the teenager was forced to roll over Jason's hip, as Jason tossed him to the ground, once again, knocking the wind from his lungs.

"You still fine?" Jason asked him, not moving out of fighting stance this time, as he studied the teenager with wounded pride on the mats. Tommy slowly opened his eyes and then glared at Jason for a few moments trying to catch his breath. "Bro," Jason laughed at the expression which was exactly what he would have expected from a teenage Tommy, or even himself, if the roles had been reversed. "I'm nearly twice your age, with way more knowledge and experience. Did you really expect to win?"

At the sound of his genuine laughter, Tommy sighed and allowed a small grin to form on his face, as he pushed himself from a reclined position into a seated one. "I guess not," he laughed as well. Jason offered a hand down to him and hurled the fifteen year old to his feet when he took it.

"You did well," Jason told the teenager, hugging him around the shoulder, like Trini had with Kira. He used his other hand to thump Tommy against the chest once, and jerked his head toward the two exhausted teenagers. "Would have wiped the floor with those two," he told him, pointing with his other hand at Connor and Trent.

"Hey!" They both stated, but were laughing as they did. Tommy laughed in response and shook his head. He hadn't want to say anything earlier, but he did have some critiques for the former red and white dino thunder rangers.

"I wanted to beat you," Tommy stated, a smirk on his face. Jason grinned in response and laughed.

"Never have," he stated. "Never will," he added in.

"Rematch when Billy fixes this," Tommy told him, gesturing to himself. "Promise?"

"Oh," Jason told him, shaking his head. "You're on." Tommy had just made him promise that he would physically kick his ass when he got back to normal. There was no way he wasn't going to take advantage of that opportunity, and Trini couldn't even get mad at him, because it was Tommy who demanded the match in the first place.

"And on that note, I believe we should start figuring out dinner?" Kimberly suggested with a laugh, however her eyes were locked on Tommy and Jason. She wasn't sure that a sparring match between the two once Tommy was back to normal was such a good idea. Tommy really had no clue what he was requesting, and she wasn't entirely sure Jason wouldn't want to kill him. Considering the news she'd just shared with Aisha and Trini, she kind of hope Tommy would be allowed to live.

"Agree," Rocky laughed, handing Luke off to Aisha. The baby had fallen asleep in his arms as he'd bounced him. He was beginning to wonder if there was something about the sounds of fighting that ran through his blood and into his kids as they never seemed alarmed or worried by it. "But how about you ladies relax this time, and we'll start up the grill?"

"Sounds good to me," Tanya laughed in response. Around the room there were nods and statements of consent as they all made their way back upstairs out of the lab.

* * *

Trini walked out of the hotel bathroom to find Jason pulling the covers up over Tyler, a discard children's book about a T-rex searching for his family, at the end of the queen sized bed. Jason leaned over and planted a kiss on the sleeping boy's forehead, as Trini watched them, leaning against the wall, one hand across her abdomen, the other dangling down at her side, love clearly evident in her eyes.

Jason flipped off the light over Tyler's bed, leaving only a soft glow of the light over the bed he shared with Trini to illuminate the hotel room. He turned around and his gaze settled on Trini. He let a small smile grace his expression as he went over to her and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing his hands on the small of her back. He kissed her forehead, her nose and then her lips.

"This is how it's supposed to be, isn't it?" he laughed, quietly so as not to wake the nearly four year old boy who he'd finally gotten to fall asleep. Jason was pretty sure he'd had to read the book three times before the toddler had even agreed to try closing his eyes.

"How what's supposed to be?" Trini laughed, placing her palms on his chest and leaning in, her cheek resting against his pectoral muscles. She felt him chuckle slightly, as she closed her eyes, just happy to be held.

"Life," Jason answered simply. "Normal life. No aliens to fight, no world domination plans to thwart, no strange powers coursing through our veins. Just family, friends, laughter, and barbeques," he added.

"Have you forgotten that there's an individual who's supposed to be twenty seven and is currently only fifteen?" Trini laughed at him, turning her head to look up as Jason scowled playfully down at her.

"I was trying to pretend he didn't exist," Jason retorted, and Trini nodded. She knew her husband was working through his issues with Tommy, even if Tommy had no idea that there were any issues. Kicking the teenagers butt in a sparring match that evening had probably been cathartic for Jason. At the same time, she also knew he was only trying to ignore the teen's existence because it reminded Jason that their lives, although they had periods of normalcy, were anything but typical.

Jason suddenly slid his arm around her, scooping her up, and carrying her bridal style to their bed, where he dumped her down, a little unceremoniously, causing her to laugh a bit louder than she meant to. Both former rangers winced as Tyler muttered something in his sleep and rolled over. "Oops," Trini giggled quietly, and Jason scowled at her.

"Oops, she says. You won't be the one putting him back to sleep," Jason laughed as they both slipped under the covers, laughing. Trini snuggled closer to him, laying her head on his chest, as they held hands, listening to each other's breathing for a little. "So," Jason stated, after a few minutes. "You want to tell me what caused Kim's break down this evening?"

"I want to," Trini told him, nodding against his chest. She sighed. "But I can't," she added. Husband or not, big brother figure or not, Trini would not betray Kim's confidence. Jason would have to remain in the dark.

"Can't or won't?" Jason asked her, his voice serious. When she didn't answer, he sighed and hugged her tighter. "That bad, huh?"

"It's not bad, exactly. It's just, um… unexpected," Trini tried her best to explain. She didn't have to turn her head to look at Jason's expression to know he was thinking about her words, trying to find the hidden meaning in them.

"Would it be breaking your promise if I guessed and you confirmed if I was right?" Jason asked her after a few moments of listening to his heart beat and feeling the rise and fall of his chest beneath her skin. Trini laughed slightly, and shook her head. "Ok then," he stated, and Trini could hear the smile in his voice. "Tommy's going to be a father, isn't he?"

"You knew?" Trini laughed, gently, and Jason laughed as well, looking down and meeting her eyes when she looked up at him.

"I didn't for sure, but I had my suspicions. That girl was addicted to coffee last summer; everyone knows this whole situation is enough to drive anyone to drink, and she hasn't; and of course there's the fact that she seems to breaking down into tears over the stupidest things. Kim is not that weak," he stated, the last clause with absolute certainty in his voice. Pink or not, she could kick ass. Jason didn't doubt she could kick his if she really wanted to.

"I forget you pay attention to things when you want to," Trini laughed.

"Thanks so much," Jason chuckled back, enjoying the light hearted teasing with her. He hugged her tighter for a moment, before releasing her. "Did Tommy know? I mean, he definitely doesn't now, but before this whole thing?"

"No," Trini confirmed for her husband, shaking her head against his chest. "And if she told him now, I'm pretty sure his brain would explode and we'd be picking pieces of his skull off the ceiling," she stated.

"That's a morbid thought," Jason laughed. She glared at him slightly. "Morbid," he added. "I didn't say it wasn't true."

"She hasn't even had it confirmed yet, but there's no denying it at this point," Trini added, shaking her head slightly. "She's going to the doctor tomorrow."

"Alone I take it?" Jason asked her, and Trini shrugged, sighing.

"What can we do? She doesn't want anyone else to know until she's certain and she figures out how and when to tell Tommy," Trini explained.

"She still shouldn't go alone," Jason repeated, a frown on his face, as he started to get lost in thought. "I'll figure it out," he told his wife gently, giving her another hug, as she nodded against his chest. Kim wouldn't be pleased that Jason knew, but truthfully, she hadn't broken her promise. She hadn't told him. And Trini was glad he knew. He was the original leader. If someone could come up with a way for Kim not to go to her first doctor's appointment alone, it was Jason. She trusted him to figure it out. "Now," he laughed. "What do you say tomorrow we arrange a sleepover for Tyler and Uncle Zack? I mean, Rocky's got two, Tommy's got one on the way, and Tyler was so much cuter when he was little?"

"In that case, why don't we just use Tommy's memory device on the boy," Trini laughed.

"That's not a bad idea," Jason chuckled back, and Trini rolled onto her hands and knees beside him.

"Jason Scott!" she scolded him, a mock glare on her features.

"What?" he laughed. "It was your idea. I liked mine better," he added in, pulling her down on top of him with one hand, while using the other to turn off the light.

* * *

Chapters 14 and 15 are complete and editted fully, so there shouldn't be any delay in posting them over the next few days. I'm working on Chapter 16, a bit unsure how to even get it started. But, hopefully this will tide you guys over for a little. This one has a lot less morphing action than Chronology considering there is no evil trying to take over the world, but I hope the ranger sparring was fun. If anyone is curious, many of the scenes are written using actual sparring matches from the series as well as my own martial arts knowledge. Adam and Rocky's match is actually one from a Zeo episode. In Chronology Conundrum, Tommy and Adam's was the fight choreographed to coincide with Billy's training analysis.

Anyway, can't wait until tomorrow when The Order reveals the newest cast member. I'm quite excited.

Hope you enjoyed. As always, reviews are cherished.

Fateless


	14. Chapter 14

Thanks for all the reviews you guys. It really keeps me motivated. I'm 12 away from 150. Help me hit it.

If you haven't checked out the new teaser released for The Order today, you're missing out. Eyeshine does the music and the score as well, so its definitely going to be epic.

Anyway, enjoy.

* * *

By the time it was approaching noon on Monday morning, the entire group had met back up at Tommy's house, including Connor, who actually chose not to sleep in. Jason, Trini, Zack, and Tyler were the last to arrive, finding everyone scattered through the house, as Jason pushed the door open and peered inside. Only a few people were visible. Aisha, Connor, Kira, and Trent could be seen outside in the backyard, through the sliding door, playing with Katie in the grass. There was lots of running involved on the teenagers' part, while Aisha sat on the porch with a cold glass of water and watched. In the living room, he could hear Tanya, Adam, and Kimberly were talking about music. "Anyone home?" he called into the house.

"Hey guys!" Kimberly called back, inviting them in. "What kept you?"

"Someone didn't want to wake up easily this morning," Trini laughed, setting the small child sized book bag she had over her shoulder down near the sofa, as Tyler, no longer weary, ran over to Kim to give her a hug in greeting.

"Aww, what's wrong? Tyler have a bit too much fun yesterday?" Kimberly giggled, tickling the boy's belly and getting him to laugh. She grinned, looking up at Trini for a response.

"Tyler was up at seven," Jason retorted with a cynical laugh. "Trini was referring to Zack," he added, shaking his head and sitting down on the sofa near Kim. Zack just laughed in response, shaking his head, despite the fact that of course it was true. Jason hugged Kimberly around the shoulders, resting his chin on her head. "You all better today, Kimmy?" he asked her gently. Kimberly nodded, sighing, as he released her.

"Can I go outside and play with Katie?" Tyler asked, watching the younger toddler playing in the grass with the three teenagers, a bit of jealousy on his face.

"I don't know," Jason replied, giving his son a pointed look. "Can you keep your hands to yourself?" he asked the boy, while Trini watched, one eyebrow raised, her hands on her hips.

"Yes sew," Tyler replied, kicking his feet against the floor and peering down at them, clearly as ashamed of his behavior as a toddler was capable of being.

"Alright then," Jason told the boy with a nod and a smile, and then looked at Trini to make sure she agreed that the boy could go outside and play. Trini gave him a smile, and followed Tyler to the back door, brushing her hand over Jason's shoulder as she passed, and letting both herself and the toddler out onto the back porch. They heard her greet Aisha, and Jason turned to watch for a moment as she seated herself with the second yellow ranger, while Tyler ran off to join Katie and his new dinosaur liking friends.

"Where's everyone else?" Zack asked, although everyone else only included three people.

"Rocky and Tommy are teaching Ethan some moves on the heavy bag in the basement," Adam replied. He had leaned back and had his arm wrapped around Tanya's shoulders. "Not that he'll really needs the moves anymore, but," he trailed off.

"It never hurts to train and be ready," Jason agreed with a nod. Neither one of them wanted to vocalize what they needed to be ready for. Part of them feared saying it would jinx it. They might be called to active duty once more, or worse, they might not be. That was the mindset of any former ranger. A double edged sword. Always hoping they wouldn't have to done the uniform again, but also fearing that they might not ever get the chance to hold the power again.

"I'll go join them. Brush up a bit myself," Zack replied, giving the group in the living room a small grin, as they nodded and watched him disappear into the basement.

Kim's eyes caught sight of the clock on the fireplace mantle beside two cell phones. One in blue and the second in red. She rolled her eyes slightly at how comfortable the teenagers were with leaving their belongings scattered around the house. She smiled slightly at the thought and then stood up stretching. "Ok guys," she stated. "I need to go get ready and then run a quick errand," she told them, turning on her heels and beginning to walk down the hall towards her bedroom.

"Anything we can help with Kim?" Tanya offered, frowning slightly in question. She didn't see a reason for Kimberly to need to handle the errand alone. There were plenty of people around. She also couldn't help but wonder what the former pink ranger needed to handle that hadn't already been done before the reunion started.

However, Kim put a genuine smile on her face and shook her head slightly. "No thanks," she replied. "I've got it; you guys stay here and hang out," she stated, turning again and disappearing down the hall.

Jason bit his lip and exhaled, looking at Adam and Tanya. "I need to ask you two a favor," he stated, as soon as he was confident she was gone. He didn't know how much time he'd have until Kimberly came back. He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah man, anything, what's up?" Adam replied, sensing the seriousness in Jason's voice, frowning. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but he knew something was bothering Jason. He could see it in his face. Tanya leaned forward, nodding, her eyes mirroring Adam's statement. Jason was a teammate. If he needed something from them, as long as it was within their power, they'd do it.

Jason nodded once, knowing that he was making the right choice in who he asked to go with Kim. If he tried to go himself, Kimberly would definitely question him. She'd know that he knew, and then she'd find a way out of it. Even if he hid until she had no other choice, Kim would cancel her appointment just to spite him. Adam and Tanya wouldn't question him like Zack, Rocky, or Aisha would. Although Aisha knew, asking her or Rocky to go would cause questions, and she wouldn't want to lie to Rocky. He couldn't tell the two of them much, but he needed their help, and he knew they'd do it with the little he could provide them with. "I need Adam to go with Kim," he stated simply, getting a frown from both of them.

"But she just said she wanted to go alone," Tanya stated, a bit of confusion on her face, and Jason nodded.

"She did," he repeated, looking from his former yellow to his former green Zeo teammate. "But she shouldn't be alone for this. I can't really explain any more than that; she'll be forced to tell Adam, once she gets where she's going, but it's her business to tell everyone else, not mine. I just know she shouldn't go alone."

"Ok," Adam stated with one nod. Jason's words were good enough for him. Tanya still wore a perplexed expression, but she nodded when she saw the certainty on Adam's face. "I take it I can't let her know I'm coming till she's on the road?"

"Pretty much," Jason replied, a million more times more confident in who he'd chosen to go with Kim, and Adam nodded again, a slight smirk on his lips. Adam seemed to understand what Jason needed perfectly.

"Alright," he stated, chuckling, and kissed Tanya on the forehead. "I'll be back later," he told her and Tanya nodded, leaning up and kissing his lips. Adam turned and walked out of the house. Jason didn't need to give him further instructions. He knew the former ranger would come up with a plan on his own.

Not even two minutes had passed when Kim emerged from her bedroom, her hair re-brushed and her purse slung over her shoulder. She furrowed her brow slightly as she looked around the living room. "Where's Adam?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Decided to join the other guys downstairs," Jason told her without even a moment's hesitation. Rocky may have needed to work on his cover story skills, but Jason's explanation was stated with such certainty that Kim responded not with suspicion, but with a small smile and a nod. "Are you sure you don't want company?" Jason asked, knowing that if he pushed, she be less likely suspect anything was amiss.

"Seriously," Kimberly laughed, shaking her head. "I'm fine. I'll be back before you guys know it," she added in.

"Alright," Tanya laughed, nodding at the same time as Jason did. "Have fun," she stated.

"Oh I will," Kimberly giggled, and walked out the front door, shutting it behind her.

Jason crept to the window and peered through the blinds, watching her climb into Tommy's jeep and start the engine. He didn't see Adam, as he frowned, but he figured that was the whole point. He didn't know what the former ranger was going to do, but he trusted him. Jason watched until Kimberly had backed out of the driveway and sped away. He turned and walked back into the living room, going to tell Tanya that he was pretty sure Adam had gone with undetected. However, before he could speak, the blue cell phone on the mantle started to ring.

"Whose?" he asked Tanya, frowning and pointing at the phone that was now making loud sounds and buzzing against the wooden mantle. Tanya shrugged in response, and Jason sighed, realizing that there were only two blue rangers present, so it was probably one of theirs. He went to the entrance to Tommy's basement. "Ethan! Rocky!" he shouted down the stairs. "Someone's Phone!" he added, stepping backwards, and hearing a tumult of footsteps as if someone was running, as Rocky's voice replied 'not mine'. Ethan emerged from the hidden entrance just as the phone stopped ringing. "Sorry," Jason told him, and Ethan laughed.

"No big," Ethan stated, moving his hand to grab the phone anyway, and see who his missed call was from. However, right as his hand closed on the blue cased device, the red one beside it started ringing. Ethan frowned. "That's strange," he laughed, grabbing Connor's phone instead of his own. Figuring that it wasn't a coincidence and that whoever was trying to reach them was pretty persistent, Ethan answered the phone without checking the display. "Hello?" he spoke into the phone.

"What the hell is going on there?" the shout came through the phone as Ethan winced, pulling the device away from his ear. He was pretty sure the volume the individual was using was close to Kira's ptera scream. He was positive that Jason and Tanya had heard the question, as both of their eyes were wide and they looked taken aback.

Cautiously, Ethan put the phone back to his ear and sighed. "Hey Haley," he stated calmly, shaking his head.

"Don't you fucking 'hey Haley' me. I leave you all alone and not even twelve hours later you're all in trouble," Haley yelled back. Ethan sighed and removed the phone from his ear again, this time pressing the speaker phone button, not that it would really be needed, considering Haley's current voice volume. "What part of I wanted a week without distractions and technology was a foreign concept to you five?"

"Sorry Haley," Ethan muttered back, shaking his head and falling onto the couch, looking thoroughly chastised and scolded as Haley continued to rant about irresponsible rangers and how she was never going to build something for Tommy again. Tanya was biting her lip and trying not to laugh at the poor teenager. None of the current situation was really his fault. While Jason continued to look slightly confused.

"When I get home, I'm going to kill you all," Haley informed Ethan, who nodded and sighed.

"Understood," he replied simply, knowing he really couldn't argue with her. He'd been silent through most of her yelling, but she seemed to be running out of steam at that point, so he judged it fairly safe to respond.

"Put him on the phone," Haley replied, her volume at a much more reasonable level, now that she'd gotten the opportunity to yell at someone. Ethan didn't even have to ask which individual she was referring to. He stood up and went to the back door of the house, and slid the glass open, sticking his head outside.

"Connor," he called out to his former team leader. Connor looked up from the grass where he was teaching Katie how to kick a soccer ball into a makeshift goal that Trent was helping Tyler to guard. Kira sat on the edge of the porch, leaning back on her hands watching them, while Aisha and Trini sat, conversing on the bench. "Phone call," he added, not even trying to hide the smirk on his face. If he had been yelled at, he was pretty sure whatever Haley said to Connor was not going to be pretty.

"Who is it?" Connor asked, frowning as everyone in the backyard, save the two toddlers, turned to look at Ethan.

"Haley," Ethan stated, watching the color drain instantly away from Connor's face. Even Kira and Trent's eyes went wide at Ethan's statement. Connor stood up straighter and gulped, before walking towards Ethan. No use putting off the inevitable. Ethan took slight pity on Connor and turned off the speaker phone button, handing him the phone and patting him on the shoulder, as Connor walked into the house and Ethan came outside.

"I don't envy him, right now," Trent stated, with a shake of his head and a tiny bit of laughter at his former leader's expense. Kira shook her head in agreement.

"Guess she got our message a bit earlier than expected," Kira stated, standing up as she and Trent climbed up on the porch.

"Haley's your tech, right?" Trini asked, a bit of recognition in her expression. Ethan nodded. "You think she might have a way to fix things?"

"Maybe," Ethan stated. "She normally doesn't call just to yell at us," he laughed, shaking his head and thinking about the current situation. "However, normally, Dr. O doesn't get himself turned into a child, so I'm not sure I can predict the purpose of Haley's behavior," he explained.

"Still," Kira stated, "when she's done ripping Connor a new one," she laughed. "Maybe she'll have some suggestions."

"In that case, maybe we should go inside?" Trini offered, getting nods from the three teenagers and Aisha, who gathered the two toddlers and herded them into the living room. Jason, Tanya, Rocky, and Zack were all sitting in the living room, trying not to laugh, faces showing expression of amusement and surprise. Tommy sat on the floor, his back against the wall, wincing at the sounds of shouting coming from the kitchen. Due to the walls in between, and the fact that she was not on speaker phone, the group couldn't exactly make out what Haley was saying to Connor, but it didn't sound pleasant.

"She threaten to kill us?" Trent asked Ethan, wincing at the thought of the through tongue lashing Connor seemed to be getting from Haley. Ethan smirked and nodded, causing the former white ranger to shake his head.

"She doesn't seem to really care that you, Kira, and I had nothing to do with it," Ethan explained as the yelling died down and Connor entered the room, his cheeks flushed red with slight embarrassment. The rest of his face was pale, and he looked like he was going to be sick. The rest of his teammates looked up at him eyebrows raised as he held the phone out to Ethan.

"She wants to talk to you again," he stated, almost as if he was in shock. Ethan sighed and hesitantly took the phone, knowing better than to question Haley. Holding the phone up to his ear, he walked away from the group. "Kira," Connor stated, falling onto the loveseat beside Zack. "Do me a favor and kill me, then burn my body so there's nothing left for Haley to get to when she gets home."

"That bad huh?" Rocky asked the teenager, giving him a sympathetic look. Connor nodded and hung his head between his knees, placing both palms on the back of his head. "Poor kid," Rocky laughed at the younger former red ranger, as Ethan hung up the phone, and walked back over. "What did she have to say?"

"Well, aside from the threats she made about gutting Connor and shoving a soccer ball down his throat," Ethan laughed, shaking his head, and slipping his cell phone back into his pocket. "She said hi to all of you, and thanks to Trini, Jason, and Zack for coming to the rescue Friday evening."

"That was nice of her," Tanya laughed gently, shaking her head. "We meant about the situation. Does she think she can fix it?"

"Actually, she wants me to head down to the lab and conference her in on a video call," Ethan stated. "She wants to see the damage and then she'll determine if she thinks she can walk me through fixing it, to at least allow it to reverse what happened to Dr. O," Ethan stated. "Who knows, maybe we can get him back to normal this afternoon."

"Why don't I help?" Trini offered, "I mean, if Haley can walk us through it, I should be able to," she added on.

"Sure," Ethan stated, with a nod. "Extra hands are always welcome," he added in, as Trini gave Jason a quick kiss before following Ethan into the basement.

Rocky watched them go for a moment, before he peered around the room, and frowned. "Ok, so, um… silly question," he stated, "but where are Kim and Adam?" he asked.

"Kim had an errand to run," Tanya stated immediately. "Adam offered to go with," she added, getting nods from Zack, Rocky, and the real teenagers. Tommy looked a little surprised, and Aisha each gave Jason a strange look, as the man ran his hand over the back of his head, although their expressions went unnoticed by the others. She figured that Jason must have guessed the current situation, but Aisha couldn't understand was how he'd gotten Kimberly to agree to take Adam with her, or how he'd managed to convince Adam to go without spilling the secret.

"Well," Kira stated. "There's not much we can do for the moment. You two want to go back outside?" Kira asked the toddlers, who both jumped up and down, nodding enthusiastically. "Alright then," she told them, reaching to take each of their hands. She looked at her three remaining male teammates. "Coming?"

"Sure, why not," Tommy stated first, standing up and following the three of them. Connor and Trent both nodded and went along as well.

"Rocky," Aisha stated, catching her husband's attention. When he looked up, she tossed him the baby monitor she held, which he caught with ease. "Keep an eye on Katie and Luke," she added.

"Where are you going?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Downstairs," she replied with a simple smirk. "Extra hands. Not sure how much help I can be, but maybe I can hold a light or something," she added in. "The sooner we get this fixed, the better," she finished, getting a nod of agreement from the others.

"I'll come with," Tanya agreed, and Aisha gave her a quick nod before the last two of the adult yellow rangers joined Trini and Ethan in the lab, leaving Zack, Rocky, and Jason alone in the living room.

* * *

"Ok," Adam stated, popping up in the back seat of Tommy's jeep from underneath a blanket after Kimberly had had the car moving for about twenty minutes. "Can't do it anymore. It is way too hot under there," he added. He was sweating and looked slightly ready to pass out from the heat.

"What the fuck," Kimberly screamed, startled, her eyes going wide, as she looked at him in the rear view mirror. "Adam!" she shouted.

"Eyes on the road," Adam commanded her, and Kimberly drew her attention back to the road, just in time to swerve to avoid merging into the lane beside her and hitting another car, her heart now racing both from the near accident, as well as the sudden appearance of a former black ranger in her vehicle. Kimberly's hands were so tight on the steering wheel that her knuckles had turned white, while Adam grabbed hold of the front passenger head rest to steady himself, his eyes wide as the car that she'd about hit flipped them off and sped away, while Kim brought the jeep onto the shoulder of the road and put it in park. In hind sight, hiding in the back seat, underneath a black blanket in the middle of summer in California, and popping up unexpectedly while the jeep was in motion, may not have been his brightest idea. But in his defense, Jason really hadn't given him a whole lot of notice.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kim growled, as Adam smirked, hiding his nerves from the near collision and climbing over the center console into the front passenger seat. She looked like she wanted to hit him. He didn't blame her. He just hoped she was far enough along in her drive that she wouldn't be tempted to turn around and head back to the house. The whole point was that she still go to wherever it was she was heading, just not alone. "You about gave me a heart attack," she added, glaring at him.

Adam gave her a playful grin, hoping he could get out of any physical retaliation, and ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry about that; I meant to stay hidden until we got there," he explained as if it was completely normal for people to hide in back seats of cars. Granted, it was more normal than half the shit he'd done and dealt with in his life, so he really wasn't fazed by it. Kimberly didn't seem all that surprised either, save from the being startled because she didn't expect it thing. "Jason sent me," he added, remembering she had actually asked him a question. Without waiting for a response, he reached behind him and grabbed the seat belt, fastening it, and looking up at her, expecting her to keep driving.

Kim's expression was one of bewilderment and dumbfounded-ness. In her mind, she was trying to decide how and what exactly Jason knew, as well as what Adam knew. For a second, she contemplated the idea that Trini had betrayed her, but quickly threw that out, knowing the first yellow ranger would have kept her secret to the grave. Jason must have guessed something. She just wasn't sure if he knew everything. "Jason sent you?" Kimberly finally replied, repeating his statement as a question, and blinking when she realized he'd put the seat belt on, clearly expecting that she return the car to the road.

Adam nodded, raising his eyebrow at Kimberly. She glared at him, and then glanced at the clock. She debated whether she had time or not to turn around and take him back to Tommy's house. Realizing that she didn't, or she'd be late for her appointment, she briefly considered tossing her former teammate out of the jeep and making him walk back, or wait for her to pick him up on the return drive. At least that's what she'd tell him she would do. Part of her felt he needed to be punished. Even if he knew nothing other than Jason sent him, he clearly knew his presence wasn't welcome, as he'd hidden in the jeep. Grown man, her ass. She expected this from Connor and the others. Adam was the last male on her list that she would have thought would pull something like this. Granted, if Jason truly was behind it, it made a whole lot more sense. Sighing, and knowing she really didn't have any choice, Kim pulled the jeep back out onto the road and continued her drive because if Adam really was there on Jason's order, he wouldn't get out of the jeep. Both of them were former rangers, but Adam still had power, which meant that he had extra strength. He wouldn't leave until he came to do whatever it was Jason had sent him to do.

Content that she wasn't fighting him, Adam smirked and leaned back in the passenger seat of the jeep, enjoying the wind running past his face after twenty minutes of sweltering heat underneath a heavy blanket. He turned to Kim after a moment. "Where are we going anyway?" he asked her, and Kim quickly looked at him and then fixed her eyes back on the road in front of her.

"You really don't know? Jason didn't tell you?" she asked, her voice indicating disbelief. She shook her head, remembering that Adam had been one of Jason's teammates as well. After that realization, it didn't surprise her that he'd blindly take an order if it had come from the original red ranger.

Adam shook his head in response, knowing she was looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "All he said was that you didn't want company, but you shouldn't be alone."

"I didn't," she reminded him. "And I'm perfectly capable of going to a doctor's appointment by myself," Kimberly told him, a bit of irritation in her voice. She was pretty sure Jason knew the truth, and she was actually kind of surprised he hadn't explained it to Adam. He'd at least left her with the choice of telling him herself, or asking him just to wait in the car.

"Doctor?" Adam asked, his eyes suddenly showing that he was alarmed. "Everything's alright isn't it?" he asked, his eyes going over every likely scenario he could imagine. He thought back to four months before, a bit of terror in his expression. "You're ok, right? No complications from the, um… blast?" he asked, not really knowing how to word the fact that she'd nearly been blown up by Connor's battelizer. He was frowning, clearly not happy that they were on their way to a doctor's office.

"I'm fine," Kimberly laughed, amused and actually quite touched by his concern. She gave him a gentle smile, her anger, almost dissolved, as she realized that Jason must have truly been worried about her going alone, if he'd sent Adam. He must have wanted to come himself, but she would have questioned his sudden disappearance a whole lot more than she did Adam's. She also knew that she would definitely kicked him out of the car; he was the leader and should have known better. Adam was just following orders. "I swear," she stated, putting her signal on to turn off the main road and into a medical plaza. "It's nothing like that."

"You're sure? Your leg is all healed? And there's no internal injuries?" Adam responded, clearly not convinced. "And there's nothing else wrong? No emergency?" he added. Apparently Adam couldn't see any option past sick or injured that would have driven Kimberly to a doctor during their reunion.

Kimberly laughed at him, officially amused, as she pulled the car into a parking spot. "Adam," she stated, through giggles. "I swear, I'm fine. Billy did a scan on me three months ago and everything was healing perfectly," she added.

"Then why?" Adam asked, as she put the car in park, raised her eyebrow, and pointed at the name of the office building she'd pulled up in front of. He followed her finger, and frowned, reading the words out loud. "Reefside Gynecology and Obstetrics," he stated slowly, his eyes filling with horror. Why the hell would Jason send him to a gynecological exam with Kimberly? For several moment, his brain slowly equated what he was seeing with disgust and horror. However, it suddenly clicked and he turned from looking at the sign to looking at Kimberly, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping open. "You…" he stated, trying to let his brain catch up with his mouth as he started at her. "You're…"

"Pregnant, yeah, most likely," Kimberly laughed. "The appointment's to confirm it," she told him, as Adam dead panned. Kim laughed a bit harder and shook her head, almost wondering if she should thank Jason for the amusement that was Adam's reaction to finding out the truth about the 'mission' he'd been sent on.

"Holy shit," Adam stated, bringing his hand to his head as he realized what was happening. "It is Tommy's right?" he asked, getting a look of irritation from Kimberly in response. "Sorry," he stated. "Stupid question. I'm just kind of in shock."

"You're in shock?" she laughed at him, and Adam did have to chuckle along. She had a point. At least now he understood why Jason hadn't wanted her to go alone. He started piecing things together, realizing that Jason had probably found out from Trini, and that Kim had most likely told Trini and Aisha the previous day when they'd gone to her room after she'd broken down. He sighed and shook his head, realizing he should have guessed after all the nights that Rocky had forced him to stay at the dojo doing paperwork and stuff, just to avoid going home and facing Aisha and her mood swings. "You can stay in the car, you know. I can do this by myself," Kimberly told him, reaching down to grab her purse.

Adam shook his head. "No way," he told her. "Jason was right. You definitely should not have to do this alone," he added with a smile, happy to see that her expression actually showed she was relieved that he would actually go with her. As brave as she was trying to be, he could tell she was happy that they ignored her wishes to run her 'errand' alone. "I mean, I'm not Tommy, but the support of a friend can help, right?"

"Absolutely," Kimberly agreed, nodding, and giving him a grin. "Thanks," she added, as they both climbed out of jeep and headed inside the doctor's office.

"Anytime," he replied, following her inside. However, about fifteen minutes later, when he was sitting in the exam room with Kim, who sat on the exam table, nothing covering her waist accept a sheet and a paper vest over her torso, he was beginning to regret that decision. He mentally swore not to tell Tanya what a pregnancy confirmation appointment entailed, or Tommy for that matter, once the teenager was back to normal, as he fought to keep a blush off his face. So far, the nurse had checked Kim's height, weight, and blood pressure, and they'd also had Kim urinate in a cup and drawn blood. The nurse had then left them both alone in the room, and Adam was having a hard time finding anything to distract him.

"Seriously," Kim laughed, watching her friend fidget nervously, his eyes trying to find something safe to look at. Considering where they were, he was having a lot of trouble with that task. "I wouldn't be upset if you went to wait in the car."

"No," Adam told her, sighing and shaking his head. "I can do this," he added with a bit of a chuckle. "I've faced worse."

"Oh really?" Kimberly asked, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yeah," Adam chuckled, dropping the volume of his voice. "Let's see, I went on a date with Scorpina, I've been regressed into a child twice, been turned into a girl and a bug, and oh, yeah, there was the time I almost died using a broken morpher."

"Ok, ok," Kimberly laughed, seeing the amusement in Adam's eyes. "You've faced worse," she added, just as there was a knock on the door and the doctor and her nurse came in.

"How are you doing today Kimberly?" the woman with the earlobe length brown hair and green eyes, wearing a lab coat over her clothing, asked Kimberly, looking up from the chart she held in her hand and taking a seat on the rolling stool. She placed the chart on the counter top and met Kim's eyes, with a kind smile.

"I'm doing alright, Dr. Malone," Kimberly replied with a smile of her own. "So, what's the verdict?" she asked, taking a deep breath. She already knew. She'd peed on several sticks over the course of the two weeks she'd been in Paris, and she'd taken one more at home that morning, not letting any of the others know of course.

"You are definitely pregnant," Dr. Malone replied, grinning at Kim, who took a deep breath and nodded, a small smile on her face. "Is this the soon to be daddy?" the doctor asked Kim and Adam, whose eyes both shot open in surprise. Adam looked horrified for a moment, which definitely confused the doctor, and sent Kim into a fit of giggles.

"No," Kimberly finally managed to choke out through her laughter. "Adam's just a really close friend. Like a brother," she explained, and Adam, unable to speak, nodded enthusiastically. "My boyfriend's out of town at the moment," Kimberly explained.

Dr. Malone and her nurse both chuckled slightly. "Well, we should have the results of your blood test back in tomorrow. You're Rh+ blood, correct?" she asked Kim who nodded, still giggling slightly, watching as the green color that had appeared on Adam's face slowly began to recede. She was pretty sure he'd matched the color of his Zeo and Turbo suits for a few moments. "That's good; nothing to worry about there then," Dr. Malone continued. "Ok, 'brother'," she laughed slightly, casting her gaze to the poor former ranger trying not to panic in the corner. "You might want to turn away for this next part," she instructed. "Kimberly, I'm going to need you to lie down, and feet in the stirrups, please," she instructed, as Kim nodded. This time Adam paled, but definitely did as the doctor suggested, even going as far as putting his hand in front of his face and closing his eyes as tightly as humanly possible. He was going to kill Jason and Tommy. It was all their fault that he was there instead of either of them. Tommy first. This was definitely his fault more than anyone elses.

Pelvic exam, Pap smear, and breast exam over, they gave Adam permission to turn back around, as Kim righted herself on the table. "Ok, everything looks great," Dr. Malone told her. "We're going to step out a moment so you can get dressed," she offered. "But we'll be right back in to do the ultrasound; see if we can determine exactly how far along you are, if we can hear a heartbeat, and maybe get a look at that baby of yours," she stated.

"Thanks doctor," Kim stated with a smile and a nod, as both the doctor and the nurse left the room. "You gonna go with?" she asked Adam, who sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes again and handing Kim her clothing. She laughed at him and then got dressed as quickly as she could. "It's over," she told him, giggling. "What to tell me about how that date with Scorpina was the worst thing that ever happened to you again?" she offered, getting a mock glare from Adam.

"Tommy and Jason so owe me," he replied, laughing and shaking his head, as the doctor knocked and re-entered the room.

"Adam?" Kim called, her laughter suddenly gone, and in her eyes, he saw a bit of fear. "Would you mind?" she asked, her voice sounding small, as Dr. Malone started up the ultrasound machine and brought the monitor closer to the exam table. The nurse put the gel on the wand, and handed it to the doctor, before instructing Kim to lift up her shirt, and move the waist band of her shorts down a bit.

"Not at all," Adam replied, gently, leaving his chair in the corner and coming to stand with her. He grasped her hand in one of his and placed his other hand on her shoulder. "That's why I'm here," he reminded her, and Kimberly bit her lips together, nodding. He was there for her; just like Jason would have been, had she allowed him, or Zack, or Rocky, or Billy if he was on Earth at the moment. All of her friends would have been lined up offering to go with her if she'd told them. Problem was, the one person she desperately wanted to be there, couldn't be; although, she didn't doubt that if he knew, fifteen or not, after his brain managed to put itself back together, he'd have offered to come as well. That would have been a hard thing to explain to the doctor. Yep, this is the father. As you can see, he's underage. Please don't take me to jail. I swear he was legal at the time of conception. She sighed and shook the thoughts out of her mind.

"Ready?" Dr. Malone asked her, and Kim nodded, looking up at Adam who gave her a small smile, as the doctor took the cold ultrasound wand and rolled it along her lower abdomen. For a few moments it was silent, and then they heard it; a gentle whooshing sound and just behind it the very quick lub-dub lub-dub of a heartbeat, going much faster than Kimberly's own rhythm. Kim's mouth fell open slightly and a few tears well up in her eyes. Adam squeezed her hand tightly and grinned wider, trying to assure her that it would be alright. That this was a good thing. Internally, he was just as amazed as she was. "Sounds great," the doctor stated, "About one hundred and fifty beats per minute," she added. "Which is exactly what we'd expect," she told Kim and Adam when they both looked slightly alarmed. "And," she continued, moving the wand around slightly, "here's your baby," Dr. Malone continued, pressing a button on the keyboard. She kept the wand pressed against Kim's abdomen as the former pink ranger pressed herself up onto her elbows to get a better look at the screen. In the center of the image was a black oval, and inside the black oval was a smaller cloudy, grey spot shaped like a kidney. The doctor used the mouse to hover over it.

"It looks like a jelly bean," Adam laughed, slightly confused by what he was seeing on the screen, causing Kim to really and truly smile.

"Aww," she laughed. "It does. It's my little jelly bean," she stated, wiping a few tears that had started to fall from her eyes.

"Good," Adam told her. "You can tell Tommy you're having candy," he laughed, "he'll love that," he added in, knowing that Kim would catch his cryptic message as he tried to help her find the humor in the situation. After all, what kid or teenager didn't love candy? Kimberly just laughed and shook her head, her eyes locked on the ultrasound machine as she studied the first image of her baby. She couldn't tear her eyes away. She was stunned and happy and excited and scared and sad all at the same time. But mostly, she was just in awe of the fact that she had a small half Tommy/ half her growing inside her body. Sure, the stick tests had told her she did, but until she actually saw the baby, it hadn't been real.

"Right here," Dr. Malone stated with a smile, pointing at a small flickering section of the 'jelly bean', "is the heart. It's beating," she explained, and then began using the mouse to take a few measurements of the baby and the sack surrounding it, letting both Kimberly and Adam continue to watch the screen. After a few minutes, she interrupted them. "Looks like you're just over eight weeks along. When was your last cycle?"

"Oh, um," Kimberly hesitated, trying to tear her eyes away from the screen. The doctor waited patiently; clearly, Kim's reaction to seeing her baby was not unusual. "May fourteenth," she stated, getting a nod from the doctor, who pulled out a chart, and looked it over for a moment.

"Yep," she stated, "Just over eight weeks," she confirmed. "Sometime around February eighteenth or so, you should have a bouncing baby…" she stated, hesitating for a moment.

"Oliver," Kimberly stated simply, a very happy and content smile on her face. "Baby Oliver," she stated again, and Adam nodded to her once, squeezing her hand again.

"Have you seen enough for now?" she asked Kim, who sighed and nodded. "Good," Dr. Malone said kindly with a smile. "I'm making you an appointment for August tenth and we'll print an image for you to take home to daddy for when he gets back in town," she explained.

"Thank you doctor," Adam replied, seeing how Kim was had gone back to staring at the screen, which was now frozen as they removed the ultrasound wand from her abdomen and dried her skin with a towel. Kimberly couldn't stop looking, even as the nurse left the room and then came back with the printed ultrasound in an envelope for her. The nurse and Dr. Malone said goodbye to them, although Adam wasn't sure Kim heard. He let her sit there for a few minutes longer, clinging to his hand as she studied the baby. Finally, after they'd been alone for a bit, Kim finally tore her eyes away from the image.

"I'm going to have a baby," she stated, amazement in her voice.

Adam laughed at her slightly, as she released his hand. "You are," he stated with a nod. "Although, I definitely still say it's a jelly bean."

"I'm going to have a baby jelly bean," Kimberly laughed, and then sighed, leaning back against the exam table. "And the father is a child himself," she stated, and Adam winced. He sighed and came over, hugging her as a few tears welled up in her eyes. Jason was definitely right. She didn't need to do this alone. She needed someone to be there when she inevitably broke down crying over the situation. That last thought seemed to be the last straw for her. She put both of her hands to her face and began sobbing.

"Kim," he told her gently, hugging her to his chest. "It's going to be alright," he stated calmly, shushing her and rocking her quietly. He let her cry for a few moments, knowing she needed it. "Billy will be here in four days. In four days Billy can get to work fixing this mess," he assured her.

"He's not even allowed to sit down and have a drink," Kimberly stated, nodding against Adam's chest.

"I assure you," he told her. "If he even tries, Rocky, Jason, Zack, and I will drag him straight down to the lab and barricade him in there until he fixes Tommy. I promise," he told her with a gently laugh. Kimberly laughed as well, sitting up and wiping her tears.

"You must think I'm crazy," she told him, and Adam laughed at her.

"No crazier than Aisha was," he reminded her of the fact that he'd had to deal with one of his best friends being pregnant, twice. "Besides, it's not you. It's jelly bean Oliver in there," he told her with a grin. Kim chuckled. "Come on, you ready to head back to the loony bin?"

"You mean we're not currently there?" she asked, sliding off the exam table as Adam laughed and handed her purse to her.

* * *

By the time Aisha and Tanya had reached the bottom of the stairs, Ethan had already conferenced Haley in on a laptop, which he had brought over to a spot near the memory chair thing. Aisha and Tanya both raised their eyebrows at it, having not seen it before, and laughed slightly. "This is responsible for Tommy's issue?" Tanya laughed, shaking her head.

"Yep," Trini replied with a grin, amusement in her eyes from where she sat near the charred panel. She and Ethan had taken countless photos of it, and Ethan was in the process of emailing them to Haley.

"Hey," Haley stated. "Tommy describes it, I just build it," she laughed. "How's the visit been?" she asked the two women who she could now see on the computer screen.

"You mean, aside from the obvious chaos?" Aisha asked her, and Haley nodded, trying not to laugh. Now that she'd gotten the chance to yell at Connor she felt a lot better. Still, she'd be happy when Tommy was back to normal and she could yell at him, too. "It's been fun. It's great to see everyone again, and a few unexpected individuals," she added, with a smile at Trini, who grinned back.

"That's right," Haley stated, nodding. "Jason was on the Zeo team with Adam, Rocky, and Tanya," she thought out loud, getting nods for the three women. "So everyone's got some type of connection, besides Tommy."

"Pretty much," Tanya confirmed. "How's Boston, Haley?" she asked the woman who she'd started to become friends with during their last trip to Reefside.

"Well, it was uneventful until I stupidly checked my cell phone," she laughed in response.

"I said we were sorry," Ethan called to her, but didn't turn away from the computer he was working with.

"Right," Haley stated, rolling her eyes.

"We're glad you did though," Aisha told Haley. "Otherwise, we'd still be waiting for Billy to get here to return Tommy to normal."

"Well," Haley stated. "I make no promises, but I'll do what I can from here. Everyone is safe right? The world isn't in any trouble?"

"Nope," Trini laughed. "I think we're all just a little worried about going insane, what with having to explain everything to Tommy," she explained, and Haley nodded. There was another reason she was anxious to get Tommy back to normal, but she was pretty sure that she, Aisha, Jason, and perhaps now Adam, were the only ones to know the truth.

"Alright Haley," Ethan stated, walking away from the desk top and coming into view on the laptop screen. The ladies let him through so he could talk to his team's tech. "You should be able to see the pictures in the email."

"Thanks Ethan," Haley replied, casting her eyes away from the camera and going to work on her lap top. She wasn't making eye contact with them anymore, so the four individuals in dino thunder's command space were pretty sure she was taking a visual assessment of the images that Ethan had sent. "The wire sticking up at the top, that's the one you're worried about Trini?"

"Yeah," Trini replied, nodding. "It's resting right where the armrest is, and possibly touched Tommy when Connor hit the machine with the ball," she explained, watching Haley roll her eyes as she re-heard what had happened. Haley muttered something about Connor and soccer and balls, but no one was particularly sure what she said.

"Ok," Haley stated, nodding. "Ethan," she addressed the teenager in the room. Open the panel on the back of the chair and tell me when you see an unconnected port for a cord, about the width of a dime," she explained. Ethan frowned, but did as she asked. As soon as the panel was off, Ethan studied the circuitry, looking for the port she'd described. He found it, right in the middle of the panel.

"Found it," he stated, simply. "What's it do?"

"Allows me to upload the memory bank from the chair," she explained, "with the cable underneath," she added in.

"This one?" Trini asked, bending down and retrieving a cable that wasn't connected to anything from the base of the chair. She held it up to the camera on the laptop, and Haley nodded.

"The round end goes into the chair, and the other connects to the computer," Haley stated. "Ethan, I'll walk you through the upload process."

"You got it Haley," Ethan replied, as Trini moved to do what Haley had instructed, and Aisha and Tanya sat down on one of the couches, talking quietly while the others worked.

A few minutes later, Haley's voice caught all of their attention. "Ok, so, good news," she stated. "The chair did what it was supposed to and made a log of all thought processes before its retrieval system was activated," she stated, although she was met by a few blank stares and puzzled looks. She laughed. "It has a record of Tommy's mental and physical status before he was regressed," she explained. "Which is really good, because without it, the chair wouldn't know how to return the individual back to their normal state; when it works correctly, the person using the chair actually relives their memory, so the chair has to then revert their mind to normal once they're done. It seems, it took reliving the memory thing a bit too far, this time," she laughed. "I've had Ethan store the memory data on the computer so it doesn't get deleted, and he's initiated an auto back up, just in case anything else goes wrong. As long as the computer is connected to the chair, any and all memory data will be backed up directly into the computer at five second intervals."

"You think you can fix it?" Aisha asked, looking from Trini to Tanya, and trying to guage who did and did not fully understand Haley's explanation. Trini was nodding, while Tanya looked slightly perplexed. All Aisha understood was memory back up was a good thing, otherwise, big trouble.

Haley sighed and nodded, but she didn't look completely certain. "It'll be difficult from here, but I have a few ideas," she stated. "I want to start by reversing the current of energy flow. If I can get that to work," Haley explained, "all we should need to do is have Tommy sit back in the chair with the wire touching his arm and start the device, with the memory back up data intact."

"And poof," Tanya laughed. "Grown up Tommy?"

"That's the hope," Haley agreed. "Ok, here's what I need you to do," she began explaining in detail how she wanted Ethan and Trini to reverse the flow of the device's energy. Once she'd explained, and answered any questions the two had, they set about starting, with Haley watching over them. Aisha and Tanya both assisted by hold lights, grabbing tools, and providing a few extra sets of hands as they worked.

About a half hour later, they were working on some of the final steps to reverse the energy current. "You know," Trini laughed as she tightened a clamp in the console on the side of the chair. "This could have been a whole lot worse," she stated.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked from the opposite side of the chair. Aisha held a flashlight for him, as he changed the connection on a pair of wires.

"Tommy was at least thinking about when he first joined the team. Can you imagine what we'd be dealing with if he'd been thinking about first becoming the green ranger?" Trini stated, her eyes wide as she tried to emphasize what she meant with her voice.

"I can imagine the issues you'd be having now," Haley stated grimly, shaking her head. "But I doubt he'd ever want to relive those moments," she added in.

"The green ranger clone was bad enough," Aisha agreed with Trini. "Bastard trapped us all in the past," she added in, when Ethan frowned at her, clearly not knowing what she was talking about. "If a clone was bad, I can just imagine the real deal," she told Trini who nodded, grimly, her mind obviously preoccupied. She remembered her first glimpse of the viewing globe. Remembered standing in the command center as Billy got the image of the green ranger to appear for them. She could still hear the disbelief and anguish in Kim's voice from that day.

"Try Tommy with no real memory of who he even is," Tanya put into the conversation. She was holding two wires together as Trini twisted them around each other, connecting them to one another. "Machine Empire erased his memory and convinced him that we were the evil ones," she stated, shaking her head. "That was a tough fight," she added in.

"Seems like no matter what, evil rangers of any kind are rough," Ethan stated. "Trent was no picnic either," he added, shaking his head. "I know he understands how Tommy's feeling at the moment, trying to gain trust from his team. It's just, after what they do when they've gone over to the dark side, it's hard to let your guard down," he added, getting nods from the three women who could empathize with what he was saying. "Ok Haley," he stated, sitting up from where he'd been. "Last connection made; energy current reversed," he concluded, grabbing the laptop and walking it around the chair so she could examine their work. He moved slowly so she'd be able to tell if they had missed anything. "Think it'll work?" he asked, setting the laptop back down where it had been so Haley could observe the whole area.

"Looks good," Haley informed them. "As well as I could have done being there myself," she added in, getting grins from Trini and Ethan. "Not sure if it'll work, but there's only one way to test it. Trini, can you plug it in?" Trini didn't reply, still lost in thought, but she did nod and plugged the strange chair device into one of the power outlets nearby. Haley nodded as soon as she did and the machine started humming. After it had been on for about five seconds, it beeped. "Alright," she stated. "Aisha, there's a switch near your right arm. That's the main power; if you flip it, and the reversal worked, it should start giving off visual energy waves," she explained. Aisha nodded once and gave each of the others a weak grin, holding up one hand with crossed fingers. With her other hand, she flipped the switch.

Without warning, the device exploded, throwing all four individuals in the basement lab away from it, as fire and smoke filled the room, and pieces of metal flew off the chair. The laptop flew backwards, screen cracking, camera shutting off, as it clattered to the floor, landing near Ethan, who'd been the furthest from the device when it had erupted. Ethan had been tossed back against a wall, and several books and fossils that were on the shelves above clattered down on top of him. He groaned in pain, wiping blood off his forehead from a deep cut just below his scalp. He was in a seated position, leaned back against the wall, both legs spread out in front of him. "Ethan! Ethan!" he registered Haley's voice sounding through the laptop, as he blinked his eyes open slowly.

Immediately, he registered the sight of flames engulfing a twisted metal object in the center of the space. He blinked rapidly, and thrust himself to his knees and then to his feet. He lunged to a side wall where he knew they kept a fire extinguisher. Ethan pulled the pin, still hearing Haley's calls for his attention in the back of his mind, and sprayed the white foam over the flaming heap of wires and metal. Moments later the flames were extinguished, and Ethan was able to drop the fire extinguisher and take inventory of the area. He saw the three yellow clad bodies that had been thrust away from him and towards the stairs. Their eyes were closed, but each was breathing. He heard running footsteps approaching as he exhaled sharply, his nerves at the sight of fire calming down, as he turned back to the computer. "Haley?" he asked.

"Ethan! Thank god," she stated. "Are you alright?" she asked him, having seen and heard the explosion before her visual went blank. Her voice was tense with fear and concern.

"I think so," Ethan stated, his back still toward the stairs; he wiped blood again from the cut on his head that was still bleeding, causing red liquid to interfere with his vision. "But I have to go," he added, sounding slightly puzzled. "I'll call you later?"

"No, Ethan," Haley began, as Ethan turned around, the laptop still clutched in his hand as his eyes settled on Jason, Zack, and Rocky who'd catapulted themselves into the basement. Ethan suddenly shut the laptop, dropping it at the same time, effectively ending his conversation with Haley, as he reached with one hand to his opposite wrist and backed up, his eyes wide.

* * *

And I think that's where I'll leave you all for a few days. Enjoy the cliffy.

Fateless :)


	15. Chapter 15

Ok guys, left you with the cliff hanger long enough. However, Chapter 17 is no where near done, so it may be a while before chapter 16 goes up. I got a bit behind because a friend lent me a book (and its the first in a series, so yeah, no promises on updating quickly.

This is the longest chapter so far - 13,900 words spanning 23 pages. So, don't complain. LOL.

Happy reading - and I can't wait to hit 150 reviews.

* * *

"So now he's sitting there," Zack spoke through hysterical laughter, leaned back on the sofa. Beside him, Rocky leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, eagerly listening to his every word, while Jason sat on the love seat, reclined away from Zack, his face slightly red and his hand over his eyes. "Wearing nothing but his socks and his boxer shorts in the middle of our dorm room," Zack continued, getting a chuckle from Rocky. "And she stands up, looks him dead in the eye, and says 'alright, you know the rules, take them off'."

"Zack," Jason groaned. "Do you have to tell this story?" He was clearly not enjoying the memory reliving, and seemed rather embarrassed.

"Yes," came both Zack and Rocky's reply. Jason glared at both his former teammates and sighed, muttering about telling the Mastodon crash story later. If they were going to tell embarrassing stories about him, then he was going to make sure the payback was expensive.

"So anyway," Zack continued. "He's already pissed off that he's losing, and so badly. I mean, she's got her shoes off, but other than that, he didn't get to see any other piece of skin. So instead of following the rules and taking off his socks," Zack stated, laughing and shaking his head.

"He didn't?" Rocky laughed, turning to Jason. "You didn't?" Rocky's mouth was wide open, his eyes filled with shock and amusement. Zack was laughing, clutching his abdomen, a few tears running down his face as he relived the moment.

"I did," Jason owed up to it, smirking and shaking his head. "I'd just turned seventeen. I was a hot head," he admitted. "Especially because it was a peace conference. I was getting a little frustrated with the lack of beating things up," he added with a shrug. He crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back, remembering the moment in his dorm at the peace conference. It was funny, he'd give them that, although maybe not everyone who was present at the time thought so.

"So he drops his boxers," Zack stated, "and now I'm trying not to fall off the top bunk because I'm laughing so hard. But she, oh man, I thought she was going to kill him. She's standing there, on the other side of the cards in between them, huffing and puffing; her face was bright red, like she was trying not to start screaming at him. Next thing I know she picked up her shoes and chucked them at him. He dodged the first one, but second one caught him right in the temple," Zack laughed, ignoring the scowl that Jason was giving him.

"Oh man," Rocky laughed. "That's hysterical. But I don't get it. Why didn't Trini want this story told? It's not like she lost to Jason and was forced to strip in front of both of you," he laughed.

"I'm getting there," Zack told him with a nod. "So, Jason's pissed now. He lost, he's standing there, naked, save his socks, and Trini's chucking shoes at his head. Next thing I know, he's run over to her and has got both her hands locked in his wrists as he's trying to get her to stop trying to hurt him. Mind you, he's still naked."

"Oh boy," Rocky stated, trying to see where the story was going. Jason stopped glaring a smirked, leaning back on the loveseat again.

"And suddenly, Jason's commanding me to go take out the trash," Zack informed him.

"What?" Rocky asked, frowning, and shaking his head, a grin on his face as he thought about the amusing scenario.

"Yep," Zack said. "It's like midnight, lights out was an hour before, so we're already in trouble for having Trini in the room, with the door closed, and he wants to send me out into the hall."

"You do it?" Rocky asked, raising his eyebrow in question.

"Hell yes," Zack replied. "But not because of him," he stated. "Because Trini demanded I do it. And man, you know you don't mess with a yellow." The look he gave Rocky implied he couldn't really believe the second red ranger had even bothered to ask that question.

"Definitely not," Rocky laughed and Jason smirked. They knew. They knew each and every day, that powers or not, you do not mess with a yellow ranger. Even Kira, nearly a decade younger than they were, was not someone they would want to be on the bad side of.

"So I get back from taking out the trash," Zack continued, shaking his head. "And the damn bastard locked the door," he added, and Rocky burst out laughing. "I had to sleep in the hallway."

"Ouch," Rocky replied, shaking his head and peering over at Jason who was simply leaning against the couch, clearly pleased with himself.

"Took a freaking poker match for those two idiots to admit they had feelings for each other," Zack stated, shaking his head, and catching the pillow that came fly from the loveseat at his head. Zack looked up at the first red ranger, who was wearing a smirk on his face, while Rocky was snickering and laughing. "Would have been great too, if this genius," Zack added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Jason, "hadn't gone and messed it up for a while."

"Right," Rocky stated, with a nod. "Jason was single when he came back to Angel Grove," he added, and Jason nodded, a sad smile on his face as Zack brought up those memories. "What hap-" Rocky started to ask when the floor underneath them shook violently and the three adult former rangers heard a loud explosion. They braced themselves against the furniture waiting for the house to stop tremoring. "What the hell was that?" Rocky shouted, a look of terror and confusion on his face.

"Earthquake?" Zack asked frowning, his eyes just as wide, as his gaze darted around the living room. Several items had fallen over.

"No," Jason answered. "It came from the basement." His expression showed confusion and caution, as he also surveyed the living room, his mind not reacting immediately. There were no evil monsters. What the hell had just happened?

"The lab?" Rocky questioned as all three men jumped to their feet, realization dawning on their faces; expressions changed in an instant from concern to absolute terror. Shaking, loud boom, and now there was the smell of smoke. Something exploded downstairs in the lab, which wasn't empty.

"Ethan and the girls," Jason shouted, racing towards the entrance to the lab, Rocky and Zack right on his heels as they catapulted themselves down the stairs, not noticing that the back door had opened, emitting the four teenagers who'd been outside playing with the two toddlers, all who wore concerned and worried expressions as well, and a baby's wailing could be heard.

Everything from that point occurred within a matter of milliseconds, although time seemed to stand still, as it often does amidst chaos and panic. Jason reached the bottom of the stairs first, and began to survey the scene, his arms expanded to hold the two banisters of the stair well, effectively blocking Zack and Rocky from going any further forward. Just in front of them were the charred remains of the chair looking device covered in fire extinguisher foam that Jason figured was responsible for Tommy's current predicament. The fact that it now looked destroyed rather than fixed filled him with dread; however, that wasn't his main concern at the moment. Further away, Ethan held a laptop computer in his hand. The teenager looked a bit bruised and cut up, but otherwise fine. Jason swept his eyes closer to himself, Rocky, and Zack, searching for his wife. Instantly, his gaze met the forms of the three unconscious women on the ground near him. Rocky saw them at the same time as Jason did and forced his way slightly past Jason, to crouch next to Aisha and Tanya.

"Ethan!" Jason shouted, snapped out of his stupor by Rocky's sudden movement. He dove towards Trini, his eyes still locked on the former blue ranger as the teenager turned around, startled and dropped the computer he was holding. "What the hell happened?"

Ethan's eyes went wide in a mix of surprise, confusion, and fear. His expression looked angry and defensive as he grabbed hold of his wrist, fingers grazing over his bare skin. His expression changed to shock as he glanced down and then back up at Jason. "Who? What? How?" Ethan choked out, looking back and forth from Jason, Zack, and Rocky, to the girls on the floor, and back at his wrist, as Kira, carrying Luke on her hip, led Connor, Trent, and Tommy down the stairs, Katie and Tyler on Connor and Trent's backs, respectively. Tommy brought up the rear of the group of teenagers, all wearing alarmed expressions. They were blocked from proceeding further into the lab by Zack's body still on the staircase.

"Ethan?" Connor shouted. "What's going on?" he added in, his eyes trying to take in the chaos that seemed to be unfolding in the lab. Ethan jumped, slight relief flooding into his eyes at the sight of Connor, only to then focus on Trent. He shuffled backwards, pressing his back against the wall, his hand still not letting go of his wrist, as his relieved expression shifted to anger and betrayal.

"What's going on Connor?" Ethan spat, distinctive hate in his tone, his eyes darting back from Trent to Connor. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Who?" Connor asked, a puzzled look on his face as he frowned. He looked at the former white ranger and then back at his former blue teammate. "Trent?" he asked, clearly confused. Kira looked at Trent and then Ethan, confusion on her own face. "Dude," Connor stated. "Did you hit your head or something?"

"What happened here?" Kira asked, looking around at the destruction, her eyes falling on the chair, as she bounced Luke, who was still wailing, scared by the explosion that had shaken the house.

"Guys," Rocky stated, "I think we have a major problem," he added, getting Kira, Trent, Connor, and Zack's attention. Jason exhaled sharply and nodded, looking up at the teenagers with anguish on his face. The white, red, and yellow members of dino thunder, along with the first black ranger slowly walked down the remainder of the stairs to see what Rocky and Jason were referring to. Both former red rangers were pale, their eyes showing panic, disbelief, fear, and a slew of other negative emotions.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Connor groaned, his eyes falling on Aisha, as he hoisted Katie higher onto his back as she began to slip down. Rocky grimaced and nodded. He knelt on the ground with her body on his right, slightly scooping her into a seated position, although she remained knocked out. However, instead of the woman that Connor recognized, her body was that of the girl he'd spent about a week flirting with during his trip to the past four months before. At that moment, his and the others eyes darted from one unconscious girl to the next, realizing that that was exactly what all three of them were: girls; not a single one older than your typical high schooler. Each girl was visibly younger beneath bruises and soot from the explosion. Their clothing, while still fitting, was definitely looser. When the chair exploded, it had definitely done something to them; although the extent of the damage was still unknown. However, judging by their luck in the past, the three adult men in the room had a pretty good idea of what the situation would be.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Jason muttered to no one in particular, while Rocky swallowed hard and nodded, visually appearing sick, as his eyes darted back to the chair looking device. There would be no fixing it – that much was for sure.

"Why wasn't Ethan affected?" Zack asked, going to Jason's side. Slightly reluctantly, and unspoken, Jason let Zack take his place with Trini, and moved to start trying to get Tanya to sit up. If their minds had reverted like Tommy's had, depending on the time frame, Jason and Rocky were the only ones Tanya had the chance of knowing. Zack could at least be of some use with Trini. He wouldn't admit it, but part of him didn't want to face his wife when she came to. He was terrified of what would happen, both if she retained her memories, and if she didn't. He didn't know if he could handle either option.

"How the hell do you know my name?" Ethan stated, clearly upset and panicked. The teenager was still pressed against the far wall, but his hand was no longer running up and down his arm. He apparently was not happy with the number of people inside the lab.

Trent sighed and shook his head. "Who says he wasn't," Trent replied to Zack's question, taking a step closer to the former blue ranger, Tyler clinging tightly to his back, but looking over his shoulder at his father and Uncle, confusion clear on his small face. "Ethan," Trent began, holding his palms out in front of him, trying to calm the teenager.

"You stay away from me," Ethan stated, shifting forward into a defensive stance, his hands raised to protect himself and strike if necessary. His voice was angry and venomous as he addressed Trent. "What have you done with my morpher?" Ethan hissed, clearly agitated, as his two other teammates walked closer, looks of realization, sadness, and concern for their friend on their faces. Trent took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, turning and looking over his shoulder at his girlfriend. Connor ran one hand over his face, using his other to prop Katie up higher on his back.

"Kira," Trent called to her, "little help here. I think I have a feeling I know how far back Ethan's gone," he added, exasperation in his voice. Kira sighed and nodded, walking over past and patting him on the shoulder, indicating that she understood the emotions Trent was feeling. The glare from Ethan at their interaction reminded Trent of what he'd been months before, and how his current friends hadn't always trusted him. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, and stepped closer to Ethan slowly, balancing Luke, who was still fussing slightly on her hip.

"Ethan," she started, "you trust me right?" she asked him, and Ethan nodded slowly, still glaring at Trent. His eyes darted back and forth between the former yellow and white rangers, as well as the baby in Kira's arms, as he tried to piece together what was happening. There were too many people in the lab. And he only knew three of them. And one of those three should not have been anywhere near that space.

"Kira," Ethan stated, although she could hear the panic he was trying to fight in his voice. "Who are all these people? What are they doing here? Why is Trent here? Where's Dr. O? What did he mean 'how far back Ethan's gone'?" he rattled off, not even pausing for air between each question. His eyes struggled to remain focused on Kira, as he couldn't help but feel anxiety about the crowd and the activity in the room.

"Dude, chill," Connor told him, not entirely gently. "It's all ok, I promise," he added, his eyes showing concern for the blue ranger. He was upset as well, though maybe not panicked. This time he knew it wasn't his fault, but the stupid device had just regressed four more individuals, and he felt responsible. The typical territory of a red ranger.

"I got this Connor," Kira told her former leader, forcefully, when Ethan turned his glare on Connor. She didn't need them arguing. "See if you can help them," she added, to him and Trent, nodding over her shoulder at the group of adults and unconscious former adults. Periodically Jason and Rocky were trying to help Zack wake the girls. And when they weren't, all three looked like they might pass out themselves. "Tommy," Kira stated gently, "do me a favor and come here," she commanded, causing Ethan to frown. As soon as Tommy came near Ethan, the former blue ranger's eyes shot open and he stepped back.

"What the hell?" Ethan stated. "He looks like Dr. Oliver," he stated, his back once again pressing against the wall, as he jumped back. Ok, evil white ranger in the dino thunder lab was unusual. But there was something just plain wrong with the fact that his science teacher, mentor, and teammate who was normally a grown man was younger than he was. Ethan's eyes showed shock, as he gaped, momentarily forgetting everything else.

"That's because he is Dr. Oliver," Kira told Ethan gently. "Well, sort of. He won't be Dr. Oliver for more than a decade," she laughed lightly, getting another freaked out frown from Ethan. "Come on," she told her teammate, "you like science fiction movies, right? That's kind of what our life is at the moment."

"Come again?" Ethan told her, his eyes still darting around the room. Each time they fell on Trent, his paranoia seemed to intensify. Something strange was definitely going on if Kira was suggesting that a high school teenager was actually their former science teacher.

Kira sighed and shook her head. "A few days ago, Dr. O was demonstrating a new device he and Haley were working on that could turn memories into images. You called it a mind reading machine," she recalled for him. Her words grabbed his attention away from glaring at Trent's back, where the teenager was helping the adults as they struggled to bring the girls back to consciousness. Kira glanced over for a moment, worry on her face, as she realized that Jason, Rocky, and Zack were growing paler each second that the girls didn't come to; part of her wanted to rush over and help; they were her friends too; but she knew Ethan needed her, confusion still evident in his expression. "Well, Connor hit and damaged it, while Dr. O was thinking about first becoming a power ranger, and well, this was the result," she explained, emphasizing and gesturing to Tommy, who nodded.

"I know it's confusing," he told the older teenager, beginning to understand that something similar had happened to Ethan, although definitely not as extreme. "I don't remember who you are either."

"Confusing?" Ethan asked, looking at the teenager, his mouth falling open slightly. "That's an understatement," he added, shaking his head.

"Tell me about it," Kira replied, rolling her eyes and bouncing Luke a bit more on her hip to get him to quiet further. The baby was getting more and more frustrated by the fact that he'd been scared awake and his father was in the room, but not comforting him. Granted, Rocky had his hands full at that moment.

"You mean some machine regressed Dr. Oliver back into a teenager both physically and mentally?" Ethan asked Kira, frowning. Tommy sighed and nodded, clearly not enjoying being talked about as if he wasn't there.

"Yeah," Kira laughed. "Basically; and it's now done the same to you. Ethan, its July. We graduated high school almost two months ago," she stated, seeing Ethan blink rapidly as he tried to absorb what she told him. She handed him her cell phone, "here, see?" she asked. Physically, Ethan looked the same. But there were subtle differences. His muscles were slightly less developed, and he didn't seem to have as much confidence in himself anymore. The teenager in front of her had not gone through everything she had. He was much closer to the computer nerd she'd just begun to become friends with at the beginning of the school year. Still, he was intelligent; used to all the craziness or not, Ethan should have been able to understand her explanation. She put one hand on her waist and sighed, watching him; waiting for an answer.

Ethan took the device and studied the date and time reflected on the screen. He frowned for a moment, trying to decide if he believed her or not. Ordinarily he would have been suspicious, but standing in front of him was undeniable proof. The more he observed the teenager, the more he couldn't argue that the boy was his teacher, just much, much younger. The only thing he didn't get was that if Dr. Oliver had been regressed into a teenager, why he had only gone back a few months.

"Our powers?" Ethan finally asked, looking from his bare wrist to hers as he nodded and handed her cell phone back to Kira, loss evident in his voice. "Mesogog?" Her story had to be true. If it wasn't, he was in a whole lot more trouble than he'd ever been in before. He needed to believe her if he was going to stay sane through this experience.

"Both gone," Kira replied with a sad smile and the shake of her head. She hated giving him that news. When she watched his expression, she relived her own pain all over again. She, the girl who had never wanted it in the first place, wanted to be a power ranger again. Despite the constant chant from the older former rangers, she still didn't feel that it was true. Once a ranger, did not mean always a ranger – at least not to her. She wanted her powers back. She wanted to morph again.

"And Trent?" Ethan asked, casting a wary sideways glance at the white ranger who had set the small child he'd be carrying on a couch beside the one Connor had been carrying and was talking with the three men he didn't recognize, trying to rouse three teenage girls he didn't recognize. His words drew Kira out of her thoughts, reminding her that, powers or not, she did have a mission – a job to do. She had to get Ethan through his transition, because it was definitely going to be a while before he got back to normal. There was no denying the memory device was totaled.

"On our side," Kira told him with a gentle laugh, trying to ease the tension that that question brought up. "Trust me," she added in, seeing how Ethan's expression hadn't changed. She understood why that part of the explanation was hard to believe. She placed her hand on Ethan's shoulder, as they both watched for former white ranger for a moment. "I swear, he's completely on our side." Part of her wondered why Ethan had been thinking about a time when Trent was still the evil white ranger in the first place. Ethan sighed and nodded, although he still seemed a bit concerned about Trent.

"And all these other people? How many of them know who we are?" Ethan asked, dropping the volume of his voice, even though he hadn't been worried about their identities a few moments before. Granted, there had been a few more pressing concerns on his mind, like where was his dino gem and was Trent about to try and kill him.

"Ethan," Kira laughed. "Look closely," she added. "Recognize anyone from Dr. O's video?" If Ethan thought Trent was the evil white ranger, than he knew that Dr. O was their black ranger, which meant that he would have seen the ranger history video, and probably not too long before. If anyone of them had the ability to remember the video, it was Ethan.

"Wait, they're all," he began, pausing and looking around. All three of the teenage girls were recognizable. The first, second, and third yellow rangers – Kira's lineage. But the men were a bit harder to recall, but he did see similarities in their faces to the ones on the video. "They're all rangers?" he asked Kira, his eyes wide.

"Strange right?" Tommy asked him with a laugh, and Ethan nodded.

"Some of the first," Kira told Ethan, positioning the now calm Luke in her arms against her chest and raising her eyebrow as Ethan looked away from her and Tommy and back over at the rest of the group. He frowned, his eyes falling on the three girls. He realized that the adults weren't the problem. Although it was harder to recognize them, it made sense that Earth's first rangers would have grown up, just like Dr. Oliver had. So the fact that the three girls looked exactly like the video versions he remembered was the issue. They shouldn't have been that young. He and Dr. Oliver were not the memory devices only victims. He paled at the thought. It was one thing for him to have lost memories of the last few months. He looked at Tommy, realizing just how bad his mentor's problem was, as he determined that it would probably be just as bad when the girls came to.

"Some of them look closer to our age," he stated, although the inflection in his voice indicated that it was a question. Kira let a small smile form on her lips, as she sighed and nodded. "The memory machine got them?" he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it voiced.

"Yep," Kira explained, "although, at this point maybe it should be called a regression machine," she stated with a cynical laugh. Ethan shifted his gaze to the charred thing that had been on fire when he'd first realized he was in the lab. Now that he thought about it, he didn't even remember how he'd gotten into the lab in the first place, or how he'd gotten into a chat with Haley.

"How come I'm not some little kid? I mean, if the thing really reverts age," Ethan asked, frowning and turning his gaze to Kira, who bit her lip and shrugged.

"Honestly, you're the one who understood it best," Kira told him, "but it has something to do with what you're thinking about a the moment," she added in, watching him carefully, as Ethan began to think. She wasn't sure what he was thinking about, but his eyes shifted and landed on Trent. She could see his nerves reflected in his gaze. He was trying to believe her, but she could tell it wasn't easy for him. She didn't blame him. It had taken them all a while to trust Trent.

"It was on fire," Ethan stated, pausing as he contemplated what that meant. The machine that had done this to him, to Dr. Oliver, to the first three yellow rangers, had been on fire. It was now a charred husk, almost entirely unrecognizable. His heart sunk from his chest into his stomach. "The chair, when I came to, I mean. It's destroyed, isn't it?" he asked, concern.

"Looks that way," Kira stated, shaking her head, before turning to both Ethan and Tommy who wore looks of fear and concern. "Try not to worry," she told both of them, although she was beginning to worry herself. She now had two regressed teammates, although one was far less severe than the other. Ethan's current problem could be explained to the outside world as something akin to short term memory loss or a mild case of amnesia. "I'm sure Billy and Haley can come up with something."

"Billy?" Ethan stated, and then shook his head. "Never mind," he added in, "I've got enough to figure out. But speaking of Haley, you should probably know, she was on the computer when I came to, but the screen got busted. I sort of hung up on her when they came down into the lab," he added, looking a bit ashamed and pointing at Jason, Zack, and Rocky.

"We'll call Haley after we get things calmed down," Kira told him. She took a deep breath, trying to sort out her mind. Haley was going to be pissed that Ethan had hung up; she was surprised that the tech hadn't been blowing up their phones trying to reach one of them. But she'd make Connor deal with Haley later. Now, they were all still kind of busy, and the girls hadn't come to, so she was getting even more worried about that. "Alright, Ethan. You doing ok for the moment?" she asked him, and the teenager nodded.

"Things are definitely different, but it's not too bad," he replied, giving her a small grin. "Sci fi," he laughed. "Like you said," he added in, and Kira chuckled nodding, glad that Ethan seemed to be doing ok. He had some major gaps in his memory that needed to be filled in, but at least he was still Ethan. She could work with that.

"Ok," she stated. "I need you to do me a favor. I've got to go help them with the other three; they're probably going to be a hell of a lot more confused than you are when they wake up. See those two kids over there?"

"Yeah," Ethan stated, nodding when Kira pointed at the toddlers who were clearly confused and concerned, given that their fathers weren't paying attention to them, and their mothers were a lot younger than they recognized. Not to mention, not entirely responsive. Both little ones looked like they were on the verge of tears. The girl had her knees pulled against her chest, while the boy leaned forward, sitting Indian style beside her.

"Two of those girls are their mothers," Kira explained. "The girl is Katie, the boy is Tyler. And this little guy is Luke," she explained. "They know who you are," she added. "So they'll trust you. Think you can take them upstairs and keep them busy until we get things under control down here?"

"Yeah," Ethan stated with a nod, figuring it would also give him some time to process things on his own as well. He was definitely still a little confused, and Trent being there was still worrying him a bit. Not that he didn't trust Kira. It was just a lot of information to handle all at once. Kira nodded, and passed the baby from her arms into Ethan's, who took him carefully.

"Thanks; also, there's some bandages up in the bathroom for the cut on your head," Kira stated, turning her back on Ethan, sighed, and wiped the blood away with his arm again, as he went to do as she requested. Kira locked her eyes on Tommy for a moment, and then cast her glance to the three other yellow rangers who were finally starting to stir. Trini was coughing, her eyes clamped shut, and her face indicating pain, as Zack supported her back. "Tommy," she stated, "run upstairs to the fridge and grab a couple of bottles of water. There's some ice packs in the freezer, too," she stated, noticing that the girls had some major bruising.

"Got it," Tommy replied, tearing his eyes away from the only one of his former teammates that he now fully recognized, and taking off up the stairs, as Kira went over to Zack and Trini. Trent was helping Jason with Tanya, while Connor knelt beside Aisha, helping Rocky.

"Ethan alright?" Connor asked Kira, concern in his voice as he glanced away from the teenage girl who was propped up in his arms for a moment. Kira nodded, exhaling loudly, as her team leader turned back to the more concerning regressed individual, who was groaning slightly, and worrying her husband.

"He will be. He's still a bit confused. Doesn't really trust Trent," she laughed. "But he accepted the truth," as she helped Zack guide the regressed girl towards the wall. Frowning, Zack shifted so he was in front of her, both his hands on her shoulders, as he frantically studied Trini's face.

"Why doesn't that surprise me," Connor laughed, and Trent smirked slightly as well, shaking his head. Neither individual could claim they'd expected Ethan, out of everyone, to deny what had happened. He played enough video games and watched enough science fiction movies, that his three teammates were pretty sure Ethan might believe anything. They also weren't surprised to hear that he didn't trust Trent; they'd figured out that Ethan had definitely regressed to some point in time where Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Dr. Oliver had been fighting Trent, and loosing. Suddenly Trent was a good guy and their teammate. That would have been a lot to take in.

"My head hurts," Trini's voice spoke from where she was seated against the wall of the lab, Zack leaning over her. Relieved that she was awake, Zack sighed and sat down beside her, on his knees, letting the anxiety he'd felt slowly start to decrease. He didn't expect any sort of miracle as far as her memory was concerned, but the relief was just from knowing that she could was aware enough to feel pain. She hadn't been so physically injured by the explosion that she wasn't going to come to.

Jason looked between the still unconscious Tanya, and his regressed wife, a pained expression on his face. He clearly wanted to go to her, but he couldn't just abandon his former teammate. Tanya had begun to show signed of coming to as well, and Jason didn't want to leave her alone. Zack caught his gaze and gave Jason a reassuring nod. He had this. Despite goofing off as often as possible, Zack was a ranger, too.

"Hey Trini, you alright?" Zack spoke calmly to her, turning so that he could look her in the eyes. Kira knelt beside her on the other side, as Trini turned her head slowly at the sound of a familiar voice, as she winced in pain.

"Zack?" Trini asked, her voice sounding small and nervous, as she blinked her eyes slightly, before rubbing them with her fists. "What happened? Is everyone else ok?" she asked, clearly under the impression that there had been some type of catastrophe. Based on her physical age, it wasn't hard to understand why her mind would have put waking up bruised and battered with horrific alien attack. Kira laughed slightly, while Zack grinned, still just really glad that she was ok, and still herself. Of course Trini's first concern would be for the rest of her team. He just wasn't sure if everyone else in her mind was three or four other individuals.

"Everyone is fine, Trini, I promise" Zack assured her, using the broader term rather than individual names, as she finally succeeded in opening her eyes entirely. For a moment it seemed as if her eyes were having trouble focusing. Suddenly they widened and then narrowed into a frown, her mouth falling open slightly, a trace of fear in her eyes. "Easy," Zack told her, as he watched her face pale ever so slightly. He held both of her shoulders in his hands. "You ok?" She wasn't screaming or panicking, but her expression indicated that Zack's face was not what she was expecting.

Trini nodded, closing her mouth, her eyes still searching his face, trying to piece together why she recognized him but at the same time, why she didn't. She took a deep inhale and then exhaled sharply. The Zack she knew did not have facial hair. The Zack she knew was a teenager. This was a grown man, despite the similarities she saw. Still, she recognized his presence. This man, with his hair shaved down on top, instead of the high top her friend normally wore, was Zack. There was no denying it. He was just older. But why? What had happened?

"Zack?" Jason called out. "Is she alright?" he added, concerned that he didn't hear his wife answer Zack's question, causing Trini to turn her attention off Zack, and onto Jason, recognizing his voice. Her eyes widened again, but she still didn't panic like Kira would have expected. Jason met her gaze, and blinked, not knowing what to say.

Trini knew she should have been more surprised, but it seemed to be a trend that when she was confronted by her male teammates, facial hair was a given. Jason's muscles were bigger. He seemed stockier than she recalled. His hair style wasn't what she remembered either. But she instantly knew he was Jason. Her eyes darted around her for a moment, looking for Billy, expecting to see her glasses and overall wearing friend with a beard that reached to his chest.

"She's good," Zack told Jason quickly, getting the former yellow ranger's attention back. As soon as she looked away, Jason shook himself from his stupor and turned his attention to Tanya again. "There's been a bit of an accident," Zack told Trini, who bit down on her lip and nodded. Clearly. But what was the accident? What was wrong? Her? Or the boys on her team?

"Kira," Tommy's voice interrupted them as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The regressed teenager carried several icepacks and water bottles in his arms, which he handed off to the older teenager. "I grabbed as many as I could find," he stated, and Kira nodded her thanks. Tommy realized Trini was awake beside him, staring at him, her eyes wide. He gave her a small smile; this was the Trini he recognized; he was hopeful that she recognized him, and he could help her get through this. This was his teammate. "Trini, you're awake, I'm glad," he stated.

Trini's eyes had widened when he'd approached and she'd gone paler. When he spoke to her, she'd crab walked across the lab floor and pressed her body as close to the nearest wall as she could. She didn't make a sound, but her eyes showed intense fear, as she pulled her body in on itself, her hands patting against her clothing. Her face became more and more panicked as she failed to find what she was looking for. This power ranger Trini recognized completely. While Zack and Jason were both clearly older than she remembered, Tommy was her age, exactly how he should have been. She'd memorized his face and his hair cut and his eyes. It wasn't like she'd be forgetting it anytime soon. She knew she'd see him everywhere she went, and even in her dreams.

Zack and Jason both frowned in response to the girl's reaction to her teammate. She was perfectly ok, albeit a bit surprised, when she'd made eye contact with Zack and Jason, and when she'd realized who they were, but Tommy made her freak out. That wasn't like Trini. She didn't panic. She was normally calm, cool, and collected in crazy situations, no matter how old she was.

"Guys," Trent stated, watching the interaction occur in front of him, as Tanya and Aisha finally began to stir slightly, small movements occurring in their joints. "I think I know what they were thinking about when the chair did its thing," he stated, looking back and forth from Tommy to Trini and thinking about Ethan's reaction to him. "I'd make you guess, but it's not exactly pleasant," Trent added. "They must have been discussing evil rangers," Trent finished, when all those not regressed, and Tommy, looked at him, confused. Trini glanced at Trent, uncertainty on her face, but quickly diverted her eyes back to Tommy, the fear evident in them. She had no idea who the other teenage was, but she was definitely more concerned with Tommy. She knew what he was capable of.

"She thinks I'm?" Tommy asked unable to bring himself to fully word the question, looking from Trent to Trini. He saw it in her eyes, and he bit his lip, dropping his gaze to the floor. Of course she did. That's why she was pressed against the wall looking terrified. She'd gone back at least one week further than he had. Normally, a week wouldn't make much of a difference, but in this case, it was the biggest difference in the world. She was scared of him, and he definitely didn't blame her. "You guys mind if I go upstairs and help Ethan with Luke, Katie and Tyler?" Tommy asked the adults, looking dejected. His heart plummeted into his stomach.

"Go on," Jason told the boy, "She'll be ok. She'll understand," he added. Tommy nodded once, swallowing, before he turned and went back up the stairs. Jason sighed, knowing he'd have to deal with that issue later. Tommy's mind was currently that of an individual processing the evils he had done and trying to figure out how to accept his friends' forgiveness, while forgiving himself. Trini had just reminded him of all the horrible things he'd done, even if it was unintentional. "Trini?" he called to the girl, as Kira passed Trent and Connor each a bottle of water and some icepacks, after tearing her eyes off Tommy's retreating figure. "You know who I am? You trust me right?" She wouldn't know he was her husband, or even that they had dated, but she'd know he was her leader – her red ranger. He had to put his faith in that relationship at the moment, and hope it was strong enough to overcome her fear, uncertainty, and confusion.

"Yes," Trini squeaked out, calming down slightly now that Tommy had left the room. She was clearly still agitated, knowing he was nearby. Tommy was the ranger who had destroyed their command center, disconnected them from Zordon, hurt Alpha, and nearly terminated them. And he was in the same location as she was. And she didn't have her morpher.

"Good," Jason replied with a nod, and a bit of relief in his voice. This would have been a whole lot harder if it had been Kim instead of Trini. The former pink ranger would have potentially been hysterical. "Let Kira put some ice on your bruises, drink some water, and give us a minute. We'll explain everything soon, I promise."

"Kira?" Trini asked, turning her attention off Jason and onto the teenage girl beside her, giving the girl a puzzled look. There weren't any other conscious females in the room, so she assumed that this was the person Jason was talking about.

"Hey," Kira said gently, giving the younger teenager a comforting smile. Given her reaction to Tommy, Kira guessed the two of them were right around the same age. Tommy hadn't been evil very long, but apparently he'd done enough damage during his tenure to scare the pants off the teenage girl. She'd heard the stories, seen the video, but seeing a power ranger's reaction to what she thought was an evil Tommy, put it into greater perspective. In the corner of her eyes, she could see Connor and Trent watching as well, all three realizing exactly what their mentor must have truly been like. "You're safe, I promise," Kira told Trini who sighed and nodded, as Kira handed her a bottle of water. "Can you stand?"

"I think so," Trini replied, a bit of hesitation in her voice. She wasn't entirely sure of the teenager, but Jason and Zack both seemed to trust the girl. That had to mean something. Granted, they also trusted Tommy, so maybe as adults they weren't the best judges of character. Still, she was beginning to realize that the problem lay with her, not them. Jason and Zack seemed slightly on edge, but not confused. Even Tommy seemed to understand what was going on. The only person with gaps was her. She knew she needed to hear the explanation before she jumped to anymore conclusions.

"Zack, you should go help Jason and Rocky," Kira told the older man, who cast his glance at Trini, clearly still concerned for his former teammate, and not wanting to leave her side. "She's fine, I've got her," Kira insisted, and Zack sighed.

"I am," Trini told him, realizing her teammate wasn't going to leave her unless she spoke up. "Confused," she added, but did put a small smile on her face. "But I'm fine," she added in, as Kira helped her stand up. Zack nodded and went over to Jason, while Kira walked Trini over to one of the leather sofas and placed an icepack on the large bruise on the teenager's leg.

"I feel like I've been hit by a zord," Aisha muttered, startling the entire group. Rocky nearly jumped, a smile breaking out on his face in relief that she'd finally said something. He used his hands to help guide his regressed wife into a seated position, Connor releasing her so that all of her weight was supported by the second red ranger. She had both of her hands cradling her head, eyes squeezed shut.

"You got thrown against the wall," Rocky told her, and Aisha frowned, her eyes opening at the sound of his voice.

"What wall? We were just out " she stated, her voice trailing off as she sat completely up and looked towards the voice of her teammate and she realized she didn't quite recognize the person she was looking for. Her eyes went wide in surprise and confusion, with a little bit of fear. "side," she finished, with a squeak her mouth gaping open slightly. "Rocky?" she asked, trying to reconcile the grown man in front of her dressed in a red t-shirt, his hair buzzed short on the sides, and spiked slightly at the front on top with the teenager she remembered. Her version of Rocky had longer hair on top, parted at the sides, so that his loose locks often brushed the sides of his forehead and was definitely not someone she'd consider an adult, or based on his behavior, anywhere remotely close to becoming one. She could have sworn he'd been wearing a sleeveless red and white plaid shirt that day at school. This man clearly did not go to high school.

"Yeah," he told her with a gentle smile. "Weird huh?" he asked her, running on hand over the back of his head, before offering his hand to help her stand up. He needed to know she was physically ok. He wanted to pull her into his arms and hug her, but he knew she'd probably hit him, hard, if he tried. He didn't need her freaking out at this point. He was actually surprised that she'd maintained a relatively normal speaking volume.

"But," she tried to articulate her argument and failed, as her mouth gaped. She blinked rapidly a few times, as she took his hand, wobbling a little on her feet. She didn't know why she trusted the man who was definitely not what she expected, but she did. He helped steady her, took the bottle of water that Connor was holding from the teenager, opened it and passed it to Aisha. She wanted to protest that Rocky was a teenager. She wanted to protest that this was wrong. That this man couldn't possibly be her teammate. He could not be Rocky. But his voice was the same, and he looked like Rocky. Her mind was slightly in panic mode, but something familiar about him, calmed her.

"Let me guess," Rocky told her. "Wizard of Deception?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as she took the water bottle, but didn't drink. "Tommy apparently turned on us?" he added, and Aisha frowned. Rocky smirked, knowing he'd guessed right. That was the only time he could recall that Aisha had ever come in contact with an evil Tommy; unless of course he counted four months before, but considering she wasn't a legal adult anymore, he was pretty sure that wasn't it. "You're sixteen," he told her, matter of factly.

"Well of course I am Rocky!" Aisha shouted at him, now that she was standing and didn't feel as disoriented. "And you should be, too," she added, a bit of anger mixed into her confusion. She didn't like not knowing what was going on. She really didn't like that Rocky was seemingly laughing at her. Granted, she had no idea that he was laughing in an effort to keep himself from collapsing into hysterics over the latest insanity that was their life. "What did that wizard do?" Learn to laugh or find yourself locked up.

Rocky laughed slightly again, and hugged Aisha tightly around the shoulders, resting his chin on her head for a moment, not caring about the consequences. "There's the Aisha, I know," he chuckled. "I was beginning to think the chair messed with your personality as well as your age," he added in with a laugh. He knew there was no way his wife would have taken the changes quietly. In his arms, Aisha tensed up, her eyes flying open. They may have been best friends, but there was something very strange about the way he was hugging her.

"Aisha's here?" The question came from Tanya, who had her eyes closed as she was helped to her feet by both Jason and Zack. She'd recognized Rocky's voice and turned her head to look at him, her eyes widening for a moment. The adult in front of her looked sort of like Rocky, but not entirely. Hugged in his arms was the teenage version of Aisha that Tanya had seen once, on the viewing globe, in Africa, when they'd traded places. Or maybe she looked just a tiny bit younger than that. However, it wasn't Aisha that surprised her. She'd already braced herself for something strange. When she'd come to, she could feel that she wasn't morphed. She distinctly remembered being in morph. She'd wondered if Tommy had beaten them all so badly that they'd powered down. She'd wondered why he hadn't already destroyed them, but rather had thrown them into some cave like prison. Now, however, as she gazed at Rocky in front of her, she wondered if she'd been hit harder than she thought. "What the…" she trailed off.

"Who's she?" Aisha asked Rocky, blinking, and forgetting the awkwardness she felt in Rocky's arms, and looking at the two men who supported the second woman. It took her a moment, but she did recognize them. Jason and Zack. The two rangers Rocky and Adam had taken over for a few months before when they'd left for the peace conference in Switzerland. And just like Rocky, they appeared to have aged rapidly. She blinked again. How did the girl know her name? This was so very, very wrong.

"Aisha, Tanya," Jason spoke, getting both of their attention. Tanya jumped slightly when her eyes met Jason's. Just like her two predecessors, she was desperately struggling to reconcile what she remembered of her teammates and the men surrounding her. Kira, Connor, and Trent had all stepped back, giving the older rangers the space they needed, as they would be best equipped at handling the current situation. "Sit down, and we'll do our best to explain," he told them, releasing Tanya after she'd shown that she could stand on her own. Rocky let go of Aisha, who gave him a puzzled frown, as well as a glare. She wasn't sure she liked being laughed at by this version of her friend.

"But," both girls started to protest at the exact same time, clearly trying not to freak out.

Jason shook his head. "Sit down now," he stated, using all the force he could muster. He felt like collapsing himself. In a matter of minutes, they'd gone from one regressed power ranger to five. He wasn't entirely sure he was happy with his life anymore – there was no way he could pretend that this wasn't happening.

Despite their confusion, both girls walked over to the couch Jason pointed at to sit down, not wanting to argue with the severity in Jason's voice. As she reached it though, Aisha's eyes fell on Trini. Although a bit younger than she remembered, she instantly recognized the girl who'd passed her powers to her. Aisha looked up at Rocky, clearly confused.

"We'll explain," Rocky laughed lightly, assuring her, as Aisha deepened her glare at him, and sat down beside Trini, with the girl she now knew was called Tanya on her other side.

"Rocky DeSantos," she stated, "this had better be a damn good explanation," she threatened him, but rather than get nervous, Rocky just smirked. He was definitely not the version of himself Aisha remembered. He wasn't even sure he'd admitted his own feelings for her to himself yet, in whatever time it was that she'd been reverted to. Aisha frowned, clearly disturbed by the fact that Rocky didn't react the way she expected.

"Oh," he laughed. "I assure you, it is," he added, shaking his head and looking at Zack and Jason, who both sighed.

"You three staying?" Jason turned over his shoulder and asked Kira, Connor, and Trent, who nodded. Kira stepped forward and handed Jason the icepacks she'd gathered from her two teammates, and then silently stepped back, clearly indicating that while they'd stay, they were going to let the adults handle things; despite the fact that they were definitely now outnumbered by teenagers. Jason offered some of the icepacks to the teenage girls on the sofa. Aisha and Tanya each took a few tentatively, and placed them on their worst bruises on their arms and legs. Jason exhaled sharply, and shook his head. "This would be some much easier if they were all the same age," he stated, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and his index finger. "Where do we even start?" He wanted to start by running away. He wanted to break down. But at the moment, he knew he needed to be the strong one. Even Rocky and Zack seemed to be depending on him. Sometimes he hated being the leader.

"Probably best to start with what they remember so we can get a gauge on exactly how old they are," Zack stated. "Although we've probably got a good grasp on that already?" he asked the other two who both nodded.

"Trini's fifteen, right?" Jason asked the girl with long black hair and bangs over her eyes. Of all three of them, the clothing she wore was the loosest. Considering Tommy was fifteen, and only just past being evil, Jason had no doubt that his wife had regressed that young. Trini swallowed and nodded. "And Tanya's just about eighteen, right?" he asked the girl on the complete opposite end of the sofa. Tanya frowned but nodded slowly, and Rocky gave him a questioning look. "Gasket," Jason told him. "When he brain washed Tommy," he explained.

"Right," Rocky stated, nodding once, remembering that event; that was the only time Tanya had encountered anything remotely like an evil Tommy that he could recall. "Aisha's sixteen," he stated, looking at the girl who crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Oh stop that," he laughed, and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Ok, you know how old we are, but that doesn't even begin to explain anything," Aisha stated, raising her eyebrows at the men. She wanted to panic, but at the same time, she just really wanted answers, and she knew, if she did, she wouldn't get them.

"Sure it does," Rocky laughed. "In a way," he added. "It should tell you that something about yourselves is definitely wrong. Not the other way around."

"Come again?" Tanya asked her former teammate, giving him a glare similar to the one that Aisha currently wore on her face.

"Some of you know each other," Jason stated. "Well, Trini doesn't; but Aisha, you know who Trini is, and Tanya knows who you are. Aisha, aren't you and Trini supposed to be the same age? Tanya, aren't you and Aisha supposed to be the same age?" he asked the girls, who blinked, frowning, as they digested what Jason had just said, trying to make sense of it. "We're all the same age," he added, gesturing to himself and the other two men; "Aisha," he went on, "You know all of us; we're supposed to all be the same age, right?"

"Come to think of it," Tanya stated, as she frowned and studied the teenager beside her. Aisha was giving Trini an appraising look. "That does sort of make sense. So something happened that forced all of us to become different ages?"

"Sort of," Zack laughed, catching the girl's attention. "Just you three, well, and two others, Tommy being one of them." Tommy's name caused all three girls to look at Zack, slightly uncomfortably.

"Trini," Jason stated, knowing that she was being quiet because she was thinking. "Making sense to you?" he asked her. If anyone could use deductive reasoning to piece together a puzzle, it was his wife – fifteen years old or not.

"We're all supposed to be your age, aren't we?" Trini asked Jason, who smiled in response, glad to see that she could figure it out. If they worked it out themselves, the three girls would be a lot more likely to accept the truth.

"Afraid so," Jason told her gently, while the other two girls gaped at the men.

"We're adults?" Aisha asked, looking down at her clothing, which did feel a little loose. "What year is it?" Her mind wanted to argue with him. She was the one who was normal. They'd aged. They should be sixteen. But then there was the fact that Trini was younger than she was. It made more sense that the girls were the ones who had changed, not the guys. That and the fact that she was definitely somewhere she didn't remember being. If her location could change, what else could?

"Two thousand and four," Rocky answered gently. "We're all going on about twenty eight," he told them. "And we've all retired from being rangers."

"Retired?" Tanya asked, looking from him to Jason. "Really?" she added in, raising an eyebrow. "Because this seems kind of ranger related to me," she added, getting laughter from Rocky, Jason, and Zack. She definitely had a point. The teenagers on the other side of the room observing, laughed as well.

"It's all Tommy's fault," Zack stated, a grin on his face.

"Isn't it always?" Rocky asked the former black ranger, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Tommy?" Trini asked, her eyes widening at the mention of his name. "Jason, I don't understand," she told the man she recognized as her leader. She trusted him and Zack, and they were definitely relaxed around all the other individuals in the room. They were discussing power ranger topics, which meant that their identities were already known. But when it came to Tommy, she couldn't imagine what would cause Zack to mention his name with such cheerfulness.

"Ok," Jason stated, with a nod. "We're going to do our best to explain things, but first we need to know if you three believe us about really being adults? That it really is two thousand and four?"

"I guess," Trini stated, nodding. Tanya sighed and nodded as well, while Aisha just continued to glare at Rocky. When he raised her eyebrow at her, she sighed and nodded.

"Alright," Jason laughed. "So, a few of us," he stated, including himself, Zack, and Trini in the discussion. No need to confuse the girls any more than they already were, "were getting together for a reunion. There's a lot of us, as ranger teams are going to change over time," he stated, directing his attention mainly at Trini. She wouldn't know any other ranger team besides her and her four friends existed, whereas the other two girls would know that was a possibility. Trini, realizing he was talking to her, nodded her understanding. "Those three," Jason continued, "were part of the most recent ranger team," he stated, "which also included Tommy."

"Tommy's still a power ranger at twenty eight?" Tanya asked, raising her eyebrow in surprise. Trini frowned, listening. What did she mean by still? As far as she was concerned, green ranger or not, Tommy was not one of them.

"Seriously?" Aisha added in, amusement mixed into her features. If the others were retired, the fact that Tommy was still a ranger, was definitely funny. Beside her, Trini frowned deeper, but remained silent.

"Was," Jason went on. "They just lost their powers," he stated. "But anyway, their tech, Haley," Jason explained, even though he'd never met her, "kind of like Alpha, or Billy," he explained, looking at each of the three teenage girls in turn and being thankful that he didn't have to explain who Alpha and Billy were, "was helping Tommy with a machine that would allow us all to relive memories during our reunion. Something went wrong when he was showing his most recent teammates, and it caused him to regress into a fifteen year old."

"So they're not supposed to be adults too," Aisha asked, nodding her head towards the teenagers.

"No," Rocky told her, shaking his head. "That's Connor, Kira, and Trent," he explained. "They really are only eighteen."

"Only," Kira laughed. "We're legal adults too, you know," she added, rolling her eyes at the three adults, who chuckled slightly.

Rocky laughed and turned his attention back to his regressed wife and the other two yellow rangers beside her. "Anyway, Haley's not in town at the moment, so she couldn't start trying to reverse the issue with Tommy; and Billy, well," he paused, "Billy is on his way, but he's not here yet," he added, looking at Tanya, his mind trying to remember back in the time line to determine whether she knew where he was or not.

"Why not?" Tanya asked, clearly answering Rocky's question. Rocky paused, biting his lip and looking at the other two adults in the room.

"Might as well tell them," Zack stated. "I mean they didn't panic over finding out they'd regressed," he added in, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, well," Rocky laughed. "Tanya and Aisha have sort of been through regression before," he explained, shaking his head. "Once you do it once, you kind of can't argue that it is possible." Due to Tanya returning with Aisha's zeo crystal, she remembered the time change; and Aisha was able to recall the events that had happened when Zedd turned the world backwards for a day. Both girls sighed and nodded, actually agreeing with Rocky. They did remember going through something similar before. They supposed, going from adult to teenager by comparison wasn't actually that bad. At least they were still old enough to have some type of autonomy.

"Just tell us," Trini told the men. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was determined. She had a calm about her expression that the other two girls didn't. Although they were all watching the guys with eyebrows raised. "Whatever it is, we can handle it."

"Billy's on another planet," Jason told her simply, watching his regressed wife's reaction. She blinked once, and then took a deep breath, shaking her head.

"I am not surprised," she stated, a small happy grin appearing on her face. "Since meeting Zordon, that's all he's ever wanted to do. I'm not surprised he accomplished it."

"Me either," Aisha stated, with a bit of a laugh. Tanya nodded her agreement, surprising all three of the guys. Apparently the girls paid a whole lot more attention to their teammates than they would have at the same age.

"Alright," Jason stated, with a bit of a laugh, "so you understand how Tommy got regressed? And why he's still a teenager?" The three girls each nodded. Some device turned an adult Tommy into a teenager because he wanted to relive his memories.

"But where is he?" Aisha asked, frowning, a look of concern on her face as well, although it wasn't as severe. If Tommy was fifteen, he wasn't old enough to be the individual she currently though had betrayed her and her teammates.

"Upstairs," Zack stated quickly, observing the renewed alarm on Trini's face. They really were going to need to address that problem. She seemed a bit disconcerted by the fact that everyone else was discussing the evil ranger as if he was a friend, which was appropriate, since he basically was – although he and Jason didn't quite think of the adult version as a friend at the moment.

"So with Billy out of contact, Haley actually called in and attempted to walk Trini, and Ethan," Jason stated, pausing for a moment when he noticed the strange looks the three regressed girls gave him. "Sorry, Ethan's another member of Tommy's newest team. He's upstairs too," he added. "Anyway, Haley was walking them through a possible fix on the device. Aisha and Tanya came down here to help. Something," Jason stated, frowning, there was no other word for him to use, "we don't know exactly what at the moment, went wrong. All four of you ended up regressing," he explained.

"So, if Ethan's been regressed as well, does that mean he's a little kid now?" Tanya asked, trying to understand what had happened to them. After all, they were adults regressed to teenager. Wouldn't teenagers regress to children?

"No," Kira told her, speaking up ahead of the men since her teammates understood Ethan's regression best. "Ethan's only gone back a few months. He's just further away from eighteen than he was before."

"I don't get it," Aisha stated, shaking her head. "Why'd the device cause us all to be different ages?"

"It runs on memories," Trent stepped in, since Jason, Zack, and Rocky didn't know much about how the device worked. "It channels whatever memory the person using it is thinking of at the time," Trent explained. "All four of you share one common experience as rangers, and collectively, it seems you were thinking about that experience when the machine reverted you," he told them kindly. All three girls frowned at him, not sure what their common experience was. "You each faced an evil power ranger," he told them.

"Tommy," Aisha stated, realization blossoming on her face, looking at Rocky, concern in her eyes. "Did he really turn on us?"

"No," Rocky assured her, with the shake of his head. "That day, at the city limit sign," he stated. "That was a clone. Tommy never turned."

"And Gasket?" Tanya asked, looking between Rocky and Jason. "He didn't win?"

"Never," Jason assured his former teammate. "We got him back, no problem." When she nodded understanding, Jason sighed and turned to Trini. "Trin?" His voice was gentle as he addressed her, watching the girl who seemed to be lost in thought as she listened.

"He goes on to be teammates with you and these girls?" Trini asked Jason, her eyes wide, but he could see the thoughts turning in her head. Of course she would figure out that they were all connected through ranger teams, even if she hadn't met Aisha, Rocky, or Tanya yet. He wondered if she could feel the power connection between herself, Aisha, Tanya, and Kira, just as he felt it with Rocky, Tommy, and Connor. Jason gave her a reassuring smile and nodded. "They become power rangers? There's more rangers after us?" Again, he nodded, letting her take the time to piece it together herself. "Billy goes to another planet. Earth is still safe when I'm twenty eight," she stated, with Zack nodding after each of her statements, and Jason smiled wider, realizing she was getting it. "We did it? We broke Rita's spell on him, didn't we?" A small smile blossoming on her lips as she looked up at him, meeting her leader's eyes, hope clear as day reflected in them.

"Yes," Jason laughed, sighing in relief and Trini seemed to have pieced together the one thing he was worried about. Beside him, Zack smiled, clearly happy as well that Trini realized Tommy was no longer a threat.

"Oh no," Trini stated, her eyes reflecting hurt and sadness, suddenly as she dropped her head and clasped her face in her hands. Jason and Zack both frowned, and Jason put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at his questioning expression, and shook her head. "His regression was triggered by the machine too?" she explained, getting nods from both of her former teammates. "It would have been initiated by memories, and Tommy wouldn't have thought about when he was evil. He wouldn't want to relive that," she said softly.

"You're right," Jason told her, squeezing her shoulder. Trini reached up and took his hand. "He might be your age, but he's a little ahead of you in terms of memory," Jason affirmed.

"I was afraid of him. I hurt his feelings. He's not evil. He's not under Rita's spell, and I acted like; oh Jason, do you think he'll forgive me?" Trini pleaded with him, begging Jason to tell her that Tommy would. That it would be ok. Aisha and Tanya watched, clearly feeling for the younger teenager.

"We'll explain it," Jason assured her with a nod. "He's had a few days to get used to things. I'm sure he'll understand that it was a result of what you were thinking about at the time; he knows he was evil, he doesn't deny that; he's just sort of at a point where it was very recent. He's trying to move past it, and this isn't helping" he told her with a gently smile. Trini took a deep breath and nodded, wiping away a few tears from her eyes that had appeared at the thought of hurting someone who clearly would become her friend.

"Can we go over one more thing?" Aisha asked, looking up a Rocky, Zack, and Jason. All three men nodded to her. "Is it safe to assume, Tanya becomes the yellow ranger after me?" she asked, looking from Trini on her right, to Tanya on her left.

"Yes," Rocky told her with a nod. He realized she must have come up with that based on the fact that she had taken Trini's place, and the fact that all three of them were dressed in various shades and styles of yellow, and perhaps there was a bit of a pull between them, despite not knowing one another, like the one he felt with his fellow reds, and to a lesser extent, the blues.

"But you stay a ranger? That's why she knows you, too?" she asked him, and even Tanya nodded agreement.

"And Jason comes back to the team, which," Tanya stated, frowning, "would make you Zack, the first black ranger," she directed to the one grown individual she didn't know.

"Good," Zack laughed, nodding. Only Trini still looked slightly confused. "Trini, you, Jason and I are going to leave the team eventually," he told her, getting her attention. "Zordon chooses Aisha, Rocky," he stated, pointing at each of them, "and another individual named Adam, to take our places," he explained. "We're gonna do good," he told her hurriedly, seeing her frown. "We get to go to a peace conference in Switzerland."

"Really?" Trini asked, her expression changing to surprise and if he wasn't mistaken, a bit of actual happiness. Zack and Jason both nodded to her.

"And then eventually, Aisha will pass on the yellow ranger powers to Tanya; and I'll go back and join the team as the gold ranger," Jason stated. "Tommy stays on the team once he joins," he explained. "He'll go through some color changes, green to white to red, and finally black with those guys," he added, jerking his head backwards toward the three watching teenagers, who gave a bit of a wave at the acknowledgement.

"Billy becomes a tech instead of an active ranger when Tanya joins," Rocky explained. "At least before he goes to Aquitar," he added in, and the three girls each grinned, Trini mouthing the word Aquitar, showing they were all truly happy for the former blue ranger. "And Adam and myself will change color as well, Adam becoming green, myself becoming blue," he explained.

"So Kim stays on the team too?" Aisha asked, mentioning the only teammate that she knew that they hadn't spoken of, and even Tanya shook her head with Rocky, Jason, and Zack. However, unlike the guys, Tanya didn't wear a pleasant expression. She'd never met the first pink ranger. To her, the former ranger was just the girl that had broken Tommy's heart.

"Kim will pass her powers onto a girl named Katherine," Jason explained. "She'll be on the team with Tanya, Rocky, Adam, Tommy, myself, and actually, with you for a bit Aisha," he added in, getting nods of understanding from the other girls, as everyone fell silent for a moment, letting the three girls take it in. They may have begun to come down, but when Jason looked up, he could see the nerves and chaos he felt inside himself reflected back in Rocky and Zack's expressions, although Zack was much calmer than the two married men.

"Oh good," Connor exhaled in relief after it had been silent for what he felt was too long. He clapped his palms together and rubbed them. "They get it. Thank god; I thought we were going to have to watch the video again," he laughed, getting chuckles from everyone in the room who hadn't been regressed.

"Video?" Trini asked, raising her eyebrow, clearly puzzled by what the teenager in red was talking about.

Jason sighed and rolled his eyes, though he was still laughing slightly. "Tommy made a video chronicling ranger history. It explains everything. We actually just watched it two days ago to help him understand everything."

"You know," Tanya stated, shaking her head. "I don't think I want to know anymore," she laughed, getting nods of agreement from her two predecessors. "This is enough information overload. As long as the earth is safe at the moment," she stated, the inflection in her voice indicating she wasn't positive.

"It is," Trent assured her with a nod as he, Connor, and Kira walked closer to the group. "We took care of the latest threat and a new one hasn't shown up, as far as we know."

"Then I assume we're waiting on Billy to get here and fix the device?" Tanya finished. The six non-regressed rangers exchanged looks. At that point, they weren't exactly sure that the charred piece of machinery could be fixed. But they were waiting on Billy to come and fix the situation. Jason sighed and nodded, running his hand over the back of his head.

"Ok, so," Aisha stated, "one last question. You said Billy is on his way; what about Adam, Kim, and this Katherine person? Seems like everyone else is here?"

"Adam and Kim are here," Jason explained, with a nod. "They had to go out and run an errand, but they'll be back shortly," he added, casting a glance at Tanya and inwardly groaning, unsure how the former black and green ranger was going to handle the news. And if Kimberly didn't kill him for sending Adam off with her, she was definitely going to do it when she found out about the current fiasco.

"And Kat?" Tanya asked, being the only one of the three regressed girls who knew of her. Jason looked at Rocky, who sighed and shook his head. "Why not?"

"Thought you said you didn't want any more details? Can we just leave it at that?" Rocky asked his former teammate, realizing that it was not a conversation he wanted to have. He realized Tanya didn't know Kim; Kat was her best friend; and in her mind, Tommy and Kat were together – not Kim. And then of course there was the whole Tommy distancing himself from everyone and just beginning to reform connections and bonds. The mess gave him a headache just to think of, let alone to have to explain. Tanya studied him for a moment, and then frowned, but she did nod, mentally deciding that she'd push the issue a bit later. For now, she really had heard more than she needed to. She wasn't sure how comfortable she was with being ten years younger than she should have been.

"So," Jason stated, clapping his hands together. "I think that just about covers it," he added, getting nods from Rocky, Zack, Connor, Trent, and Kira. He was about to say more, when footsteps sounded and the small, half Asian boy catapulted himself down the stairs. Ethan following behind him, carrying a half African American child on each hip, and Tommy brought up the rear. The baby boy on Ethan's left hip was crying.

"Daddy Wangew!" Tyler called out, latching onto Jason's leg. All three girl's eyes went wide, as Jason sighed and ran his hand through his hair. All the first red ranger could think was 'shit', as he titled his head away from his son and onto the three girls on the couch. He sent looks for help to Rocky, Zack, and the teenagers, but quickly realized that Rocky had gone a particularly pale shade of green.

"Uh oh," Connor whispered to Kira and Trent who both nodded, all three real teenagers' eyes going wide. They stepped back, letting Jason and Rocky handle this issue. This one had their names all over it.

"I'm sorry, um… Jason, right?" Ethan stated, grimacing slightly, as Jason nodded. "He got away from me."

"No harm done, Ethan," Jason told him, though it was a lie, bending down to pick up the little boy. Well, there was some harm done – he wasn't sure how this was going to go, but he did not see it ended without some panic. He'd been hoping he and Rocky could attempt to explain things to the kids, or the girls in private later. "What'd you need so badly Ty? Daddy's kind of busy at the moment," Jason asked the boy once he had his son at eye level. Tyler eyed his father for a moment, before twisting around in his arms, and frowning at the three girls on the sofa.

At the same time, Katie was reaching her arms out towards Rocky, inclining her body towards him, and moving her hands in a 'give me' motion. She whinned, adding her own voice to her baby brother's, when Ethan didn't immediately hand her over to her father. "I'll take them, Ethan," Rocky stated realizing the teenager no longer knew who the kids belonged to, and Ethan nodded, frowning as he tried to remember who the man was, based on the images he'd seen of him as a teenager. "Rocky," the man told him, taking both kids from Ethan and bouncing them both, making shushing noises. Aisha was giving him a very strange look, while Trini had her eyes locked on Jason and the boy in his arms.

"Why'd mommy get littlew?" Tyler answered his father, locking his eyes right on Trini. Jason exhaled and looked passed his son, to the teenage girl seated on the sofa. Her face had gone pale again, her eyes wide. She stared at the boy, then looked straight into Jason's eyes. She swallowed, as her gaze questioned him. Jason sighed once and inclined his head, giving her the answer to her silent question. Trini blinked, and looked down at her left hand, now, not entirely shocked to see a gold wedding band and diamond ring adorning it. The boy was a much greater bombshell.

"Mommy, sort of had a little accident," Jason told the boy. "But she's still mommy, ok. She might just be a little confused, alright Ty?" he asked the small boy, although his eyes were on Trini, waiting for some type of reaction from. The girl just blinked, clearly still stunned, while Tyler nodded his limited four year old understanding.

"Mommy?" Aisha asked, taking her attention off Rocky for a moment, and studying Trini and Jason. Tyler was looking back and forth between his parents. "You mean, it's possible that," she trailed off, tearing her gaze away from the first yellow and red rangers to her own hand. "Oh my god," she breathed, finding her own engagement and wedding rings. She turned her head and looked at Rocky, really studying the two young children in his arms.

He caught her gaze and gave her a half smirk, shaking his head. "Surprise?" he asked, more than stated, chuckling nervously.

"Rocky DeSantos!" Aisha shouted, startling the two children that Rocky had just calmed down, jumping to her feet as they both began wailing. "What the hell?" she added. They'd been friends since they were children. Now he was standing in front of her, telling her that they were married, with two children of their own. That was not something she could just take lightly. Zack, Connor, Kira, Trent, Ethan, Tommy, and Jason all winced at her tone of voice. They did not want to be in Rocky's shoes at that point.

"Dang it, Aisha," Rocky stated, trying to be more conscious of the language he was using since Katie was becoming quite a copycat. Granted, the word he'd wanted to use was a lot more severe. "It's your name too, don't say it like it's a bad thing," he stated. "And I just got them to stop crying. You mind not scaring the kids?"

"Two of them?" Aisha growled at him. They were different ages. The girl was older than the baby boy. When she looked at them, she saw herself, and she also saw Rocky. Even if she tried, she couldn't deny it. But if there were two, it meant that she'd had to have slept with him a minimum of two times. This was Rocky. One of her best friends. How the hell had he become the father of her children? Hell, how did she end up with children? "Rocky?" she stated, a little bit less angrily and more with fear and concern, "there are two of them?"

"Aisha," he laughed slightly, leaning forward, and handing her Luke before she could react. He pulled away, shifting Katie, now that his other hand was free. "Meet Luke, your son," he laughed, as Katie laid her head down on his shoulder, her thumb in her mouth and her eyes unsure of the teenager now holding her brother. Luke pouted slightly, but didn't fuss, as he was pretty used to new people holding him. Aisha looked down into his eyes, seeing her own, and then looked, astonished at Rocky. "And this is your daughter, Katie," he explained, as Aisha's mouth fell open.

"And on that note," Zack laughed. "Who wants to be the one to tell Adam that we shrunk his fiancée?" he questioned, looking straight at Tanya who'd been silently watching as Trini and Aisha were filled on an important part of their adult lives.

"Fiancée?" Tanya mouthed, realizing that there were only three of them, and if Trini and Aisha were married, process of elimination left her. Her mouth fell open as she raised her left hand in front of her face, her eyes widening as she discovered her ring. She looked at Rocky and Jason, who both sighed.

"Zack!" they hissed, irritated with the first black ranger for opening that can of worms.

"No," Zack laughed, "seriously. Who wants to be the one to tell him? I seem to remember a threat of a power ax," he added, shaking his head.

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Hope you enjoyed. Also, one last quick thing - I'm assuming if you're reading this that you're a PR fan. Most of you are probably MMPR fans, although some of you might be PRDT fans primarily. Anyway, if you haven't been following The Order, you may not know about the challenge issued this morning - so let me enlighten you. Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly) has challenged David Yost (Billy) to go to Hollywood Blvd wearing his blue ranger costume IF The Order reaches $75,000. There's about a month left in the campaign and they're at about $46,000. If you want to see this happen, which all ranger fans should, think about contributing. Even if its only a $1. campaign is the-order-movie.c*o*m (remove the stars).

As always, I appreciate your support and words in all of your reviews. Can't wait to read them.


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry about the wait guys. Life got a little busy. I haven't even started chapter 18 yet, so it'll be some time before chapter 17 is posted, mainly because on top of working and my Kung Fu classes, this week is also my Birthday, so I have quite a bit planned so I won't be able to spend as much time writing.

Anyway, there's less than a full month in the Order campaign and we need to get David Yost back in his blue ranger suit, so if you haven't yet, go donate a dollar. Karan Ashley even mentioned that if they hit $100K, she'd done her yellow ranger suit, so yeah. LOL.

Ok, on with the reading. Hope you enjoy.

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"So," Adam stated, from the driver's seat of Tommy's jeep. Despite the fact that he'd had gotten her crying under control, Kimberly was still in a bit of shock and had handed him the keys the moment they reached the vehicle. "I have a theory," he told her, glancing to his side at the former pink ranger. She sat back in the seat, her right arm balanced on the edge of the door. She was staring straight ahead, but Adam didn't think she really saw anything.

"What's that?" she asked him, not changing her expression or looking at him. Adam sighed and shook his head, letting a small smile grace his lips as the thoughts formed fully in his mind. He snickered slightly.

"You know how we think the morphing grid is out to get Tommy?" he asked her, once again glancing back and forth from her to the road and adjusting his grip on the steering wheel. At the mention of Tommy's name, Kim turned her head completely to look at her friend, her expression still blank, but one eyebrow was raised, encouraging him to continue. "Well," he stated, with a laugh, "what if it's not?"

"Seriously?" Kimberly asked him, pretty much determining that Adam had lost it. They'd been at this shit for over a decade. Tommy had been through hell, and them through him. The morphing grid one hundred percent absolutely had chosen Tommy Oliver as its favorite torture subject. "You're kidding right?" she stated, the sealed envelope from the doctor's office still clutched tightly in her hand. If the last hour hadn't been enough proof of her point, she didn't know what would be.

"Hear me out," Adam laughed, shaking his head. "What if Tommy's not the target, just the catalyst. What if the morphing grid is really just out to get the rest of us and uses Tommy to do so?" Kimberly opened her mouth to retort, but then his words actually sunk in. She blinked, making a 'huh' sound as she contemplated what he said. "Makes sense doesn't it?" Adam laughed. "Life was perfectly normal and sane until Tommy came back into it."

Kimberly laughed once, cynically. Adam had a really valid point. She'd spent nearly a decade living a relatively mundane existence until roughly three years ago when she'd discovered a letter written by Tommy at the age of seventeen, directing her to find his future self somewhere in Reefside. She now knew that by all rights, that letter should never have existed. It was due to a fluke during which Tommy and her past-self had changed the rightful future and gotten really lucky that they hadn't actually fucked anything up. But after that, everything else had been a roller coaster of monster kidnappings, evil rangers, morphing with ancient powers, and fiery explosions. Add to that a physically and mentally regressed father-to-be who had absolutely no idea he had started to procreate. Tommy seemed to be getting off lightly when they thought about it. They were the ones that had to deal with the consequences. "You may be right," she stated, a dark smirk on her face as she shook her head.

"Thought so," Adam stated, smugly, as he turned off the main road and onto the one that he knew would lead them to Tommy's house. After a few moments of silence, he glanced at her again from the corner of his eye. "If you don't want to tell anyone," he told her, "you might want to put that away and come up with a good cover story," he added in, reminding her that she wasn't lying to ordinary people. She was lying to individuals who were really experienced at making up stories to cover their whereabouts. If the story was half baked, their friends would see right through it.

"Oh right," Kimberly stated, shaking her head. He was right of course. And she'd need to let him in on the story as well, or the whole thing would blow up in her face. She bit her lip, thinking for a few moments, before looking back up at him. "I'll say I was meeting with the bank about a safety deposit box my mother has at a branch in Angel Grove; we'll say she's looking at how to withdraw the items and close out the account without coming over from France," she added in, trying to come up with an excuse that would bring her back home empty handed but have kept her and Adam busy for a while. Hands on the steering wheel, and eyes on the road, Adam nodded once, understanding her fabricated story.

"That should work," Adam stated, accessing the plausibility in his mind and finding it fairly satisfactory; especially if they could get their friends off the topic pretty quickly. "But you will have to tell them all eventually," he added. "They'll be happy for you."

"I know," Kim stated, filing the envelope away in her purse. "But I want to tell Tommy," she paused, sighing and shaking her head. "I mean the real Tommy, first," she amended quickly, and Adam nodded his understanding. "Tanya knows you came with me?" Kimberly asked him, having turned her attention back to the outside world speeding past them. Adam nodded, and then realized that she wasn't looking at him.

"Yeah," he stated, affirming his friend and former teammate's suspicion. He knew that his fiancée would not accept the story Kim told. All Tanya knew was that Kim shouldn't have been alone. A bank; a safety deposit box; closing an account. Kimberly could handle all that by herself. Tanya wasn't dumb. However, he also knew he'd picked her for a reason. If he told her to just accept it, Tanya would; no suspicion; no pushing. He was positive that she hadn't even tried to press Jason for more details after Adam had left.

"If you need to tell her, you can," Kimberly told him, turning back to face him, a slight smile on her face, but Adam could see the reluctance in her face. He could tell that she was counting the people that knew. Herself, clearly, Aisha, Trini, Jason, and him. Five of them. That only left Rocky, Zack, Tanya, Billy and Tommy who didn't know. Well, and the teenagers, but he doubted she counted them. Half of their number now knew before the baby's father that there was a baby on the way.

"I won't need to," Adam assured her with a gentle smile. He knew Kim didn't know Tanya as well as some of the others, but he was glad to know that his friend would trust his fiancée with her secret. And he was just as glad knowing he could give Kim the assurance that he wouldn't need to tell her secret in the first place. "You ready?" he asked Kim as they pulled in the driveway, noticing Jason outside pacing, while Kim sighed and nodded. "Looks like someone is anxious for the news," Adam added to Kim, who looked up at the individual he pointed out, and frowned. "Hey Jase," Adam called out with a wave as he put the jeep in park and handed Kim back the keys.

"Hey," Jason greeted them with a weak smile, as the former pink and black rangers hopped out of the jeep. For a moment, Jason considered the irony of having sent the former black ranger, given Tommy's most recent uniform color. "How'd it go?" he asked, his face clearly showing his nerves.

Kim gave him a slightly suspicious look, as she walked over to him, stood up on her tippy toes and planted a light kiss on his cheek. "It went well," she told him, "thank you," she added pulling away from him, leaving Jason slightly surprised to see that she was pleased that he'd sent Adam along with her. He was glad she hadn't had to go to her first appointment alone. He gave her a more genuine smile, before wincing when she struck him in the shoulder with her balled up fist, causing laughter from Adam as he watched. Kim drew back her other fist, aiming to strike Jason again, a glare on her features.

"Ow," Jason stated, drawing back away from her, and catching her second strike in the palm of his hand. In hindsight, he probably should have let her hit him, as she just ended up kicking him in the shin as hard as she could once she realized her hand was trapped, causing him to wince. "Fuck! Kimberly!" he hissed, hopping onto the foot she hadn't kicked, clutching his other leg in his hands. He was going to be sporting a bruise soon. He was just glad she'd been wearing flats instead of heels.

"That was for telling Adam to about get us killed," she growled at him, standing and watching her former leader hop up and down as he fought to get the pain under control.

"What?" Jason asked, bringing his leg down and scowling at the smirking former black ranger who was leaning against the black jeep, arms crossed over his chest. "I did no such thing," Jason argued, looking back at Kimberly and then at Adam again. "What the hell did you do?"

"I swear it was an accident," Adam laughed. "I couldn't take it under the blanket anymore. I thought I was going to die of heat stroke. Not a pretty way for a ranger to go out, don't you think?" He walked closer to Jason and Kim, now that he was pretty sure that she was done hitting people. He wouldn't have put it past her for her to lash out at him, too.

"And exploding vehicular wreckage would have been preferable?" Kimberly asked him, smirking and looking over her shoulder. She still hadn't quite forgiven him for their near collision earlier.

"Explosions I can do," Adam affirmed with a nod, causing Kimberly to roll her eyes, a sarcastic grin on her face, while Jason chuckled in front of her.

"Mission went well then," Jason laughed, raising an eyebrow at Adam, as Kimberly slid underneath his arm to hug him now that she really did feel that she was done inflicting pain him. All three of them chuckled slightly at Jason's use of vocabulary to describe Kimberly's appointment.

Adam nodded once, smirking. "I should hit you too, you know. Do you know what happens at one of those appointments?" he asked, his face going slightly red at the memory of how he'd spent the early part of his afternoon. Jason laughed harder and nodded. Of course he knew. But truthfully, he hadn't been thinking about Adam's discomfort when he'd sent the man. He'd only been thinking about how to lend support to Kim. He did feel slightly bad – but only just a little.

"I'm sorry," he laughed. "But she wouldn't have let me go," Jason told him, shaking his head and looking at Kim, whose expression could best be interpreted as 'no kidding'. "So?"

"So what?" Kimberly asked him, raising her eyebrow at him from where she was still hugged against his side. Jason sighed, knowing she was trying to force him to admit he knew. He scowled at her. "Fine," she pouted. "There's a jelly bean Oliver inside me."

"There's a what?" Jason laughed, picturing a red, green, white, and black plaid jelly bean growing inside his friend's abdomen. Confusion was evident on his face as he looked between a now giggling Kimberly, and Adam who really was having trouble not bursting into laughter. "Ok, I'm going to need an explanation," he told them, a little scared that they'd both finally lost it. Which wasn't exactly a good thing, considering what he really needed to tell them.

"Adam said the baby looked like a jelly bean," Kimberly laughed, shaking her head. "I went with it. It's my little jelly bean," she explained, and Jason laughed, hugging her tightly around the shoulders, happy to know that she was happy. He could see a bit of worry in her face, but she seemed a lot more content than when she head left for the doctor's appointment, reaffirming his conviction that he'd been right to insist that she did not go alone.

"Speaking of food," Adam stated. "Did you guys make lunch while we were gone? I'm starving," he added, stepping around Jason and Kimberly, and making his way toward the house. Jason, not letting go of the former pink ranger clinging to his side, spun around towards him, his face changing instantly from laughter to slight panic.

"You might not want to go in there," he stated through squinted eyes and gritted teeth, running his free hand over the side of his face, as Adam, sensing the strain in his former teammate's voice, instantly stopped his forward motion. Incredibly slowly, he turned on the balls of his feet so he was facing Jason, facial expression questioning and slightly reluctant, as Kimberly pushed herself back from Jason, her arms extended so they were still connected. She glared at Jason, really not liking his tone or expression.

"Jason," she drew out his name, her tone both threatening and questioning. "You didn't just meet us out here to discuss the doctor's appointment, did you?" She really didn't think she wanted to know what was going on, but she knew from experience that she really wasn't going to have a choice. She couldn't very well stay outside her own home forever, but she had a sinking feeling she wasn't going to need her cover story anymore.

"Not exactly," Jason sighed, running his hand over the back of his head and sighing, stepping away from Kimberly slightly. He had a distinct feeling she was going to try and hit him again. Truthfully, if he'd had his way, he would not be the one out there. One of the others would have that job. It had taken them a little while to get the three girls calmed down after the revelations of engagements, marriage, and children. Ethan was definitely beginning to understand that he needed to consider himself lucky that the worst thing he was dealing with was figuring out how he felt about Trent. The former blue ranger was still slightly on edge around his teammate. Trini seemed a bit awkward around Tommy, and even still slightly nervous, but she'd apologized, and Zack and Jason had done their best to explain the situation, so both teenage original rangers were doing their best to get along. At present, Trini and Aisha, with Tanya watching on, were getting reacquainted with their children, although the guys could see they were still majorly weirded out by the fact that the kids existed. Trini seemed to be doing better with it than Aisha, as Aisha wouldn't go closer than five feet from Rocky at any given time. She was warming up to her two kids, but definitely not to her husband. Once they'd settled in a bit, Jason, Zack, Rocky, Connor, Kira, and Trent had all drawn straws on who got to tell Adam and Kimberly about the "accident". He'd lost. "We got some good news while you were gone," Jason told them, trying to make his voice sound positive.

"Really?" Adam asked, not sounding at all convinced. Good news did not seem likely at that point. Good news would not have stopped him from going in the house. Good news would not have caused the expression on his face. However, Jason nodded, causing Adam to frown in response.

"Haley called," Jason stated simply, waiting for some type of response from Adam and Kim, who continued to stare at him. He sighed, and shook his head, knowing they were going to wait for him to contine. "She was pretty sure she had a way to fix Tommy, and she walked Ethan and Trini through it," he told them. Kimberly frowned. Her heart had skipped a beat, getting excited at the mention of Haley fixing things. Tommy would be back to normal? She could tell him? Give him the sonogram photo in her purse? Introduce him to their little jelly bean? But if that was the case, why did Jason suggest they might not want to go inside. "Tanya and Aisha offered to help."

"Jason," Kimberly stated, her voice warning again. Adam was frowning intensely, his arms crossed over his chest, while Kim's face was wary and guarded. Jason gave them both a nervous, hesitant, pained expression.

"There's bad news, too," Jason stated, and Adam shook his head, looking down at his feet. Of course there was. Wasn't there always? Slowly, he leaned back up, taking a deep inhale and bracing himself for whatever came out of Jason's mouth next as he made eye contact with the other man. "It didn't work," Jason stated, and Kimberly let out the breath she was holding.

"Ok," Kimberly stated, nodding. She could live with that. She hadn't expected Haley to be able to fix things over the phone. She'd been putting most of her faith in Billy anyway, so while it was disappointing, it wasn't exactly the blow she'd been expecting.

"And there was an accident," Jason went on, and Kimberly froze, her eyes going wide. He just had to add that, didn't he? He couldn't have left it alone. Her face paled, and she felt sick. She absolutely knew she did not want him to continue.

"What kind of accident?" Adam asked slowly, suspicion and anger in his voice. He did not like where this was going. His instinct was telling him not to listen anymore and to jump back in the jeep and speed as far away from the insanity as possible. He really should have listened to his instinct.

"You remember that threat you made about anyone else regressing and your power ax?" Jason asked, and Adam's face paled like Kimberly's. He inclined his head once, very slowly. He remembered, and all he could think was 'please don't say it'. "Yeah, well, how do you feel about gutting your own fiancée?"

"What?" Adam shouted, whirling on his feet, hearing Kimberly gasp behind him. He didn't even look back at her, feeling his weight shift as he ran towards the house, and burst through Tommy's front door. For a moment he forgot the layout, giving Kim enough time to catch him, as they both entered the living room, panic clear on their faces as they tried to process what Jason had just said and what they were seeing. Adam's eyes barely registered Trini or Aisha. Instead, they fell directly on Tanya, who was sitting on the floor, Katie in her lap, reading a book. As soon as she felt his eyes on her, she looked up and met his gaze squarely, before remembering what Zack, Jason, and Rocky had told her about her currently relationship with her former green teammate. Instantly, realizing that he was studying her, and becoming extremely self-conscious of it, and the fact that his mouth was hanging wide open as he stared, Tanya blushed bright red. "Fuck!" he growled softly, getting a glare from Rocky for using the word in front of Katie, which he ignored.

"Adam?" Kimberly said softly, her voice tremoring, beside him. Verbally, he didn't answer her, but he did slowly rotate his head and body to face the former pink ranger, who was blinking, taking in the scene around her. She took his motion as the only answer he was going to be capable of giving for a bit. "What you said in the jeep about the morphing grid," she stated. "I'm pretty sure you were right," she finished, getting nod from Adam in response, before he slowly shifted his attention back to his regressed future wife.

Kimberly surveyed the room, her eyes falling on both Aisha and Trini. The fact that her two best friends looked like they did when they were in high school disconcerted her. She blinked a few times, before shifting her gaze to Zack, Rocky, and Connor, all who wore guilty expressions, despite the fact that they really had nothing to do with it. Zack and Rocky were both feeling responsible as they were some of the last few remaining adults, while Connor shared the same guilt as Jason – leader responsibility. Kira was seated between Ethan and Trent, talking quietly to the blue clad teenager who kept shooting Kim and Adam nervous looks, while at the same time orienting his body in such a way that it was clear he didn't want to be near Trent. Aisha held Luke in her arms, although she looked anything but comfortable holding a baby; in fact her face was slightly scrunched up in what appeared to be disgust as she held him away from her; while Trini sat on the floor, Tyler in her lap, and Tommy to her side. Tyler was trying to get his regressed mother's attention back onto his toy dinosaurs, but the teenager was staring at Kim, a bit of surprise on her face, every so often shooting a nervous glance at Tommy.

"Hey guys," Zack laughed nervously from his seat on the sofa. "How'd the errand running go?" he asked, clearly attempting to change the subject. Kimberly and Adam both shifted their gaze toward Zack, faces clearly reflecting 'what the fuck' and 'seriously' as they glared at him. Zack laughed and shrugged his shoulders, causing Adam to throw his hands up in the air, making several unintelligible sounds as he turned his back on the scene, grabbing his head and shaking it. Kim place hers over her face, willing herself not to break down into tears, shaking her head back and forth as Jason finally joined them in the house. He pulled her into a hug against his body, where she buried her face in his chest. He could hear her mumbling the word 'why' over and over again.

"Adam," Rocky stated, "it's really not that bad. We've been through this before," he reminded him, chuckling slightly. Adam turned and glared at him sharply, anger clear in his expression.

"Last time you weren't married and I wasn't engaged," Adam retorted angrily, catching sight of Tanya, who blushed a deeper red at Adam's words. He sighed, and put one hand on his forehead. "I'm getting a headache," he stated, as the teenage Zeo ranger gently pushed Katie out of her lap and stood up, walking over to him. Adam just gulped, looking down at her.

"Adam?" she asked gently, studying his features. While she was definitely more than a little embarrassed by the way he'd been looking at her and knowing she would eventually be engaged to him, in her mind, he was one of her best friends; She clearly recognized her friend in the grown man in front of her, and she didn't like seeing the anger and fear on his face. Her question didn't seem to be to get his attention, but rather to fully get a grasp on his identity. "Is it really you?"

To avoid answering her, because he was not in any state to verbalize anything with her standing that close to him, he looked over at Tommy, who shrugged his shoulders, and then at Trini and Aisha. He blinked a few times, processing the fact that one of his childhood best friends had also been reduced in age. His eyes briefly stopped on Ethan and he frowned, questioning in his mind why the only male present during the accident had not been affected.

"Frog boy," Rocky told him, "You need to breathe," he added, getting another glare from Adam. Rocky just snickered and shook his head, as Adam realized he was probably beginning to worry Tanya.

He looked up at her, trying to soften his expression, and mostly failing, as he met her eyes and nodded. "Yeah; They… um… you know?" he asked her, although he knew they would have told her. At this point in her life, Rocky and possibly Jason were just as close to her as he was, despite that he'd always wanted to be closer – just didn't have the guts to do anything about it. They wouldn't have hidden it from her. And she would probably have believed them. His eyes flew to the ring he'd put on her hand not long before, finding it still in place. Yeah, she knew.

"Yeah," she stated, with a nod, her eyes still studying him, almost to the same degree as he'd been looking her over. Still, he recognized her; could recall exactly when she'd looked like this. They'd still been in high school. But he knew, she couldn't recall ever seeing him as an adult. "What they told me, about," she paused, clearly not knowing how to phrase what she wanted to say. She could feel all of their eyes on them, as could he. Everyone was silent, even the two kids. The only sounds were a tiny bit of muffled sniffles coming from behind them, and a bit of fussing from Luke as Aisha held him away from her at arm's length. "Could we go somewhere and talk?" she asked him, not really wanting to discuss things in front of everyone else.

Adam blinked again in response. She wanted to go somewhere alone with him. His brain was barely processing the fact that she was a teenager again, and she wanted him to go somewhere and talk. Adam nodded once, and gestured to the hallway.

"Adam," Rocky stated, before either of his two former teammates could leave the room. Adam paused and looked at him over his shoulder. "Talking involves opening your mouth and having sound come out."

"Shut up," Adam growled at him, his eyes dancing with anger, while Rocky just laughed at him. Adam made a highly irritated sound before turning and leading Tanya towards the spare bedroom, and leaving everyone else in the living room.

"Kim?" Trini's voice called to her former teammate, clearly indicating she was concerned. The former pink ranger stiffened at the sound of her voice. She realized she was crying simply because she was so entirely overwhelmed. First Tommy, now Trini, Aisha, and Tanya. This was supposed to be a normal reunion. Nothing weird or strange was supposed to happen. And she'd just gotten back from a doctor's appointment that had confirmed she was going to be a mother, but not with the father, because he was under age. It was all too much. She pushed herself away from Jason, wiping her eyes as quickly as she could before turning to face the teenager who had called her name. Both Trini and Aisha were watching their friend.

Kim took a few steps into the living room, ignoring the concerned looks she was getting from Zack, Rocky, Trent, Connor, and Kira, before allowing her knees to buckle as she fell into the vacant armchair in the living room, sliding her purse off her shoulders. Katie, no longer occupied by her aunt Tanya, came over to Kim, begging to be picked up. Kim lifted the small girl and settled her into her lap, playing with the child's hair lightly, as it gave her something to do with her hands that was easing her panic. She wanted to yell, scream, and beat the shit out of something, or someone. She didn't really care who at that point. Considering the device was all his idea in the first place, Tommy was seeming like a worthy candidate.

"So Jason," Kimberly finally spoke after a few moments, trying to keep everything together in her mind. She smirked. At least the number of individuals who now knew about her secret had once again dwindled, although she was still getting strange looks, as she forced herself to fight another wave of tears that was threatening. She had to keep it together. Damn jelly bean. She turned her head over her shoulder to look back at Jason who hadn't moved. "Accident huh?"

"Yeah," Jason chuckled out, running his hand through his hair, as Kim looked away from him and back to the two teenage girls, who were staring at her, mystified. Kimberly sighed and gave them each a reassuring smile. "Memory device kind of just exploded," he explained, shaking his head and looking over at his wife and Aisha as well.

"Aisha," Kim finally spoke to the girls, addressing the second yellow ranger, who made eye contact with her. "If he smells that bad, you might just want to pass him off to Rocky," she laughed, thinking back on what they'd all told Tommy earlier. If they didn't learn to laugh at the craziness, they'd all need to be locked up somewhere due to going insane. Rocky, hearing her statement, sighed and moved to take the five month old from his regressed wife who didn't say a word to him, but actually looked away and blushed. Kim, smirked, realizing that as freaked out as he was, Adam definitely had it better. At least Tanya was willing to talk to him. They all needed to talk, whether Aisha wanted to or not.

"You ok with this, Kim?" Connor asked, slightly hesitantly, drawing the woman's gaze away from her teenage former teammates and over onto himself and the other dino thunder teenagers. Kim laughed a little darkly and shook her head.

"Don't really have a choice in that do I, Connor?" she replied to his question with one of her own. Insanity wasn't even the word. She looked back at the two teenage girls, piecing together their ages. Trini was the same age as Tommy, and based on how she seemed slightly nervous around him, she had a pretty good idea as to where the former yellow ranger's mind was in terms of historical events. Aisha was a little more difficult to pin point, but if she had to guess, Kim would have said roughly sixteen or so; not quite old enough to have met the dino thunder team. Connor shook his head in response, as Kim turned back to face them. "So what's the status on the device after the accident, Ethan?" she asked the only blue clad individual in the room. She needed to keep her mind busy if she was going to avoid going to pieces in front of everyone. She could cry later, when she was alone.

Ethan looked up, his expression blank as he met her eyes and froze, unsure what to say or do. He didn't even know who she was, and she was looking to him for answers. Slightly scared, Ethan looked at both Connor and Kira, who each gave him a gentle smile. Connor patted his shoulder, while Trent snickered a bit of laughter, shaking his head, and Kira hit him, glaring at him playfully. "Stop that," she muttered.

"Ethan regressed too, Kim," Connor told the woman, whose mouth fell open slightly as she studied the teenager, looking for any sign of physical difference and not finding one. "Only a few months. Back to early on while we were rangers. He thinks Trent is evil," he explained.

"I know he's not, now," Ethan retorted, drawing out the word 'now' to emphasize the point he was making. He rolled his eyes slightly at the insinuation that he still couldn't understand that Trent was on the side of good, even if his mind perceived otherwise.

"Yeah, right," Trent laughed at him. "That's why you keep flinching every time I come near you," he added, placing his hand on his former teammates shoulder, as Ethan winced, fighting his instinct to pull away, which caused all three of his teammates beside him to laugh. Trent released him and sighed, shaking his head, reminding himself that no matter what he felt in response to Ethan's reactions to him, the former blue ranger had it worse. It wasn't Ethan's fault that his mind thought Trent was still with Mesogog. He knew he'd be acting the same way if their roles were entirely reversed.

"Device is totaled, Kimmy," Jason told her, shaking his head as the woman turned to face him, her eyes showing for a brief second complete and total fear, before she regained control of herself. Her hands unconsciously flew to her abdomen, as she hugged herself and the jelly bean tightly. "I don't think repair is an option; Billy and Haley will probably need to start from scratch coming up with a way to fix this."

"But you do think they can fix it, right?" Trini spoke up, and in her voice Kim could hear the girl who was still relatively new at being a ranger, dealing with chaos, and working beside Billy in his garage or in the Command Center. Kim heard her own nerves and anxieties reflected in the teenager, and sighed, knowing she had to put those away for more than just Tommy's sake at this point.

"If anyone can, you know its Billy," Kimberly assured her. "We'll get everyone back to normal soon," she added, with a nod, casting her glance at Tommy, who gave her a half smile and a nod. She needed him back to normal; as much as she wanted Trini and the others to have confidence in her words, she needed to listen to herself. Billy had to succeed. Kim sighed, and decided it was time to change the topic. She needed some time away from any regressed individuals to try and fully process this, so that was going to have to wait till later. "I'm assuming no one has eaten anything in a while?" she asked the group, though she was mainly looking at Zack, Jason, and Rocky, who'd just brought Luke back into the living room from getting his diaper changed. She needed to get her mind off the chaos before she was tempted to retreat back into her bedroom and curl up in a fetal position until Billy got there. She was fighting that urge with every part of her she could, as well as the urge to just break down sobbing over how unfair it all was. All she wanted was a relatively normal reunion with friends. Five regressed rangers was not normal.

"Hungy An Kim," Katie confirmed, with a nod, wrapping her arms around Kimberly's neck as the petite woman stood up, gripping the child with one hand.

"Me too!" Tyler stated, as he left his mother and walked over to Jason, crawling up on top of his father's lap. Kimberly laughed and rolled her eyes at the three adult men.

"You do realize that even when chaos strikes, you have to feed the kids," she told them, chuckling. "And there's quite a few more juvenile mouths to feed," she added, shaking her head.

"Hey!" Aisha laughed, "I am not a little kid," she added in, "or Rocky for that matter," she added with a giggle, causing Kim to smile, glad to hear her friend speak, as well as acknowledge the former red ranger's existence. Kimberly laughed.

"By comparison Aisha," she told her, "you're a lot younger than you should be," she confirmed. "Ok Katie, how about we order a pizza for lunch and we make Daddy Ranger and mommy go get it."

"Daddy Ranger, mommy, pesa!" Katie giggled, clapping her hands, as Kim set her down on the floor. At the mention of pizza, Connor had flipped himself over the back of the sofa and disappeared into the kitchen, instantly returning with the take out menu which he offered to Kim, who nodded in thanks.

"Wait what?" Rocky stated, realizing that Kim had included Aisha in the errand of fetching lunch for the group. Aisha was staring at Kim, open mouthed. "Kim," he began, handing Luke off to Zack, and running his hand over the back of his head. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"It's a perfect idea," Kimberly retorted, giving both her former red and yellow teammates a look that challenged either of them to defy her. "You need to talk, too. Aisha needs to understand things better, and you're the only one that can help her," she reminded him.

"But you and Tommy didn't," Rocky started to protest.

"We did," Tommy laughed at Rocky, shaking his head. "Saturday night," he insisted, as Kim raised her eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips, practically daring the former red ranger to argue with her again. Something about her look promised that she'd potentially inflict bodily harm with her old power bow, despite knowing she couldn't summon it anymore. Rocky sighed and dropped his head, clearly defeated, before nodding and grabbing his car keys, while Trent gave him the address of the pizza place they normally ordered from, and Kim grabbed the phone handset from the living room, and began to place a pizza order for the group as soon as she was satisfied that Rocky was going to go and take Aisha with him.

"Let's go," Rocky called to Aisha who was still sitting on the floor of the living room, on her knees, gaping at Kimberly and Rocky. He looked back over his shoulders at his regressed wife who hadn't moved and sighed. He knew it wasn't her fault, but the fact that she wanted nothing to do with him was beginning to rub him raw. It hurt that he was being reminded that there was a time when they were nothing but childhood friends, and that even if he had asked her out, she would probably have said no. Theirs wasn't love at first sight, like Tommy and Kim. It was strong, of course, but it had taken time to grow that way, and for Aisha, it seemed like even the seed had yet to be planted. "You know she'll make you if you don't come on," he reminded the former yellow ranger of just how persuasive Kimberly could be when she wanted something. Aisha sighed and bit her lip, standing up to walk out the front door. Rocky shook his head and cast a helpless look at Jason and Zack, both who shrugged and gave him sympathetic smiles, as Kim hung up the phone.

"Connor," Kimberly stated, putting the handset back on its charger and placing the take out menu in the end table drawer. She had a slight smirk on her face. "Why don't you, Kira, and Trent take Ethan and Tommy downstairs and go over some of the finer details of their time with dino thunder," she suggested, "I'll call you when lunch gets here."

"Sounds good; I need to call Haley back and tell her what happened anyway," Kira replied for Connor, sensing what the former pink ranger was up to. She nodded, and gave her four male teammates looks that suggested they didn't argue. Of the four of them, Tommy was the only one who seemed immediately ready to comply, but one look from Kira and they were all heading down the stairs into the lab.

"Ok, who wants to go outside?" Kim asked, looking at Katie and Tyler, who immediately raised their hands and began jumping up and down. She gave them each a smile and a nod, picking Katie up and taking Tyler by the hand. "Zack," she called over her shoulder, as she walked Tyler towards the back door, "grab a bottle from the fridge and bring Luke," she told him. The former black ranger nodded, and stood up, baby balanced perfectly in his arms to do as she asked. Jason made a move to follow, but Kimberly glared at him. "Sit," she commanded her former leader, and Jason's bottom collided back with the sofa seat he'd taken. "Stay and talk. You're not getting out of it either," she informed him, and Trini, before she turned her back, meeting Zack at the sliding door, and disappearing into the back yard, leaving earth's first red and yellow power rangers sitting in awkward silence.

"Did that really just happen?" Trini finally managed to voice after a few moments of just listening to the sound of her own breathing and Jason's. Jason ran his hand over his face, sighed, and nodded, casting a nervous look at Trini. Just like Kim, Adam, Rocky, and more than likely Zack, he was panicking inside. Doubts and worries that this wasn't fixable kept popping into his head. His wife was nearly half his age, and definitely not a legal adult. His son was a bit confused by it, and Jason wasn't one hundred percent sure how to help him. And Trini didn't even know him in the way he wanted her too. So much for his plans of making Zack babysit that night. "She got everyone else to leave us in a room alone?"

"She did," Jason finally laughed, although there was a hint of sarcasm to it as he contemplated the situation. The morphing grid had a majorly fucked up sense of humor. "It's Kim, what did you expect?" Trini smirked in response, nodding to him. If there was one thing she did know, it was Kimberly. Both of them were rather surprised that she was taking the news as calmly as she was.

The two former rangers lapsed back into silence for a few moments before Trini spoke up again, making Jason wince; his pride slightly wounded. She was proving to have way more courage than he was. "I suppose she's right; we do need to talk," Trini suggested, pushing herself into a standing position off the floor and walking over to sit on the sofa beside Jason, her legs crossed at the ankles.

Jason nodded, his entire body inclining. "We should," he agreed, raising his gaze from his clasped hands in front of him to look her in the eyes. "I just don't even know where to start." Now that they were alone, things felt a lot more awkward than they had before.

"How about I just ask the questions?" Trini asked, wrinkling her nose in amusement. She had a million thoughts running through her head. She was still trying to figure out how Jason went from one of her best friends to a man that she would undoubtedly love. However, the more she thought about it, if she focused her mind on what Jason looked like at fifteen, she could definitely admit there was a possibility she could have fallen for him, if he hadn't been like a brother to her. Jason simply nodded in response. Answering questions he could do. "When do we," she began, and then blushed, realizing that Jason was right. It was going to be a lot harder to start.

Jason took pity on her. She was his wife. Younger of course, but he could still understand what she was thinking. He smiled at her and laughed slightly. "When we're seventeen. At the Peace Conference that Zack told you about," he told her. "That's when we admitted we like each other," he added. "But I started developing feelings for you before we left the rangers," he admitted, looking away from her and remembering back to some of his last few battles in a red suit. His nerves had been on edge whenever Trini missed a blow or was in a direct line of harm. At that point, he'd begun to wonder if that's how Tommy felt during every battle with Kim present. He hadn't asked. He hadn't admitted his feelings to anyone, not even himself. He had been pretty certain Trini had a crush on Billy, and even he thought the yellow and blue rangers would have made a great couple. "You've never told me when you really started to feel anything different."

Trini tightened her lips, though the corners of her mouth pulled up in a slight smile as she relaxed a bit. They could do this. They could talk. She nodded. "So we've been together since we were seventeen?" In her mind, Trini was doing the math. Outwardly, she appeared the picture of calm. But that had always been her strength. She could maintain her confidence in most situations, even if on the inside, all she felt was turmoil. And that's where she was at the moment. Outwardly depicting calm, while inside she was desperately trying to keep herself from panicking over the fact that she had a son, with Jason Scott.

"No," Jason stated. "We, um…" he ran his hand through his hair, as his mind went back over his relationship with his wife.

Trini had taken his virginity the night they'd played strip poker, and he'd taken hers. And after that, they'd had a few amazing weeks together. And then he'd fucked it up. He'd told her that he was leaving; heading back to Angel Grove. When she'd pressed him for why, he'd admitted he missed being a Ranger. And that was it. Trini had stopped talking to him. At the time, he didn't know why; and that pissed him off. If she wouldn't talk to him, than he wanted nothing to do with her. If he'd been more mature, he would have questioned her, begged her to at least talk to him. But he wasn't. He was seventeen. He was frustrated with sitting around talking about peace, while knowing that Angel Grove was still under attack. Without so much as a goodbye, he'd packed his bags and gone home, the very image of a teenager with attitude. Gold ranger powers acquired, he'd set his sights on Emily almost as soon as he got to Angel Grove, desperate to remove all traces of Trini from his mind.

"We broke up," he stated, not looking to meet her eyes, but he did watch her expression out of the corner of his eye. Trini frowned, and nodded once, but didn't say anything, and Jason knew she was waiting for him to say more. The gold wedding band that was slightly loose that she kept playing with on her left ring finger told her that they didn't stay broken up forever.

Two years later, Zack was home, and he threw a party – his parents out of town. He invited Jason, and Jason invited Emily, but Emily had to work that night, as she did so many other nights, so he went alone, as he normally did when Emily told him that she couldn't or wouldn't go with him. And there was Trini, standing in the entrance of Zack's kitchen talking to some guy Jason didn't know. And Jason wasn't at a Peace Conference, and he wasn't a Power Ranger protecting the Earth, and he definitely wasn't sober, having consumed several cans of beer already.

What he was, was angry. Angry that he'd lost the power. Angry that Emily hadn't come with him. Angry that Tommy had stopped returning his calls. Angry that Zack hadn't told him Trini was invited. Angry that some drunk guy was clearly flirting with her. For a brief second, he had a moment of clarity; he was just going to turn around and walk away; she hadn't noticed him. But then he saw the other drunk guy – the one with the blond hair and green eyes, and a nose that was too big and pointy for his face – place his hand on Trini's wrist and tug on her. The guy had said something derogatory. Too many beers, and years in between had made Jason forget exactly what he'd said. It didn't really matter though. The next thing Jason knew, his fist struck the blond beak nosed guy, sending him to the ground, where Jason hopped on top of him, throwing several more punches until Zack and Rocky dragged him off. Until that point, he hadn't even known Rocky was there.

The details were fuzzy. There was yelling and shouting, and Trini may have hit him. He hadn't felt it if she did. Alcohol and adrenalin act as powerful numbing agents when applied in the correct amounts. But the one part he did remember, was standing in a room, with Zack, the former black ranger questioning him about his actions, as he knew, beyond the closed door, Trini had left with friends, and the party had begun to break up. Jason realized in that moment, he still loved her. The next day, he broke up with Emily; they'd been drifting apart anyway. There was just so much about him that he couldn't tell her and so much that she didn't understand. And of course, there was Trini.

It had taken him a month to gather up the courage to as Zack for her phone number. And then another month after that for him to work up the nerve to use it. He hadn't really expected her to agree to meet him at the edge of the desert, but she had. And she'd climbed into the passenger seat of his SUV without hesitation. And he'd driven, taking the brand new vehicle into what can only be described, as extreme off roading, neither one of them speaking. Jason brought the SUV to a stop at the top of a flat ridge. In front of them laid the charred remains of the Command Center, and Jason knew, beneath it, the Power Chamber. They sat in silence for several more moments, before Trini had begun to speak.

In Tommy's living room, Jason smirked at the thought. His pride should not have been injured. He'd always known Trini was braver than he was when it came to speaking about things that were weighing on them, confusing them, or matters of their hearts. And that was why he needed and loved her.

"We started dating again when we were nineteen," Jason told her, looking up and smiling at her. "After neither of us was a power ranger again," he added, shaking his head.

It had taken two years for him to find out why she'd stopped talking to him in the first place. She'd been in correspondence with Kim. And Kim had just broken up with Tommy a few months before, because he was a ranger and she wasn't. Of course, Kim hadn't told Tommy that was the reason, and Trini hadn't said anything to him, and neither would Jason, considering by the time he knew the reason, Tommy had begun to phase himself out of all their lives. Trini had gotten scared. She hadn't wanted either of them to hurt as badly and deeply as Tommy and Kim were. She hadn't wanted to go through what Kim had for months. Worrying about Jason every moment because she was powerless and couldn't protect herself. So she'd broken it off before they could even really start. And sitting there, in his SUV, staring at the destruction of their Command Center, Jason had understood. And that was it. It was as if they'd never been apart.

"When did we get married?" Trini asked, suddenly, breaking his train of thought. She wanted facts. She could see the emotions in his face as he relived their life. And she was upset, because she couldn't feel the same thing. Sure, fifteen year old Jason was definitely hot, but he was her friend, her brother, her teammate, and her leader. She didn't feel the same thing this Jason did, and it made her sad, and angry, and guilty, because Jason was her friend, and from what he was telling her, she could sense that he was hoping, somewhere in her mind, was his wife. But Trini knew she wasn't that person yet. However, she still needed to understand what Jason knew and she didn't.

"Three years after that," Jason replied simply. "Most of our friends were there," he told her, purposely leaving out the details of exactly who. There was too much complication in that. She had enough to process. "And Tyler was born a year and a half later. He's almost four," Jason finished.

"So," Trini stated, sighing and nodded. "We really do love each other?" she asked, frowning and looking up at him. Jason blinked, going back through everything in his mind. Hadn't he just told her that? And then he realized, he hadn't. He'd relived it, in his head, but the words that had come from his mouth hadn't done their relationship justice. And in that moment, he understood what Tommy had been trying to accomplish with the memory device in the first place. Jason found himself wishing the damn thing had actually worked.

"More than life itself," Jason laughed gently, peering down at his own wedding band. There were no other words he could say. He didn't know how to put the emotions he had into words.

"Will Tyler be ok?" Trini asked, clearly concerned for the boy. "I mean, he's old enough to know something isn't right."

"He's a smart boy," Jason told her with a nod. "He'll be ok. I think he thinks this is funny," he added in, looking over his shoulder to where Tyler and Katie were wrestling with Zack in the back yard. Kim sat on the porch, bottle feeding Luke who guzzled the formula.

"Jason," Trini called to him, and the man's attention quickly snapped back to the fifteen year old on the sofa. For a brief second, in her calm and collectedness, Jason saw his wife. He blinked, and she was gone, although the girl's demeanor hadn't changed. He wondered if she knew that while outwardly he was trying to come off just as calm as she was, internally his emotions were raging. He wanted to hit something. "I'm sorry," she told him.

Instantly, Jason frowned, and shook his head. "For what?" She had nothing to be sorry for. It was the damn device. He'd allowed her to attempt to work on it. He'd brought her there in the first place. This was not her fault.

"For not feeling the same way you do right now," she told him gently, and Jason sighed and nodded. He wouldn't admit that he'd hoped his explanation would make her realize she loved him. But truthfully, if he was honest with himself, that wasn't possible. At fifteen, with Tommy running loose in Angel Grove, trying to destroy them, Trini couldn't have loved him. If roles had been reversed, he knew he couldn't have loved her yet either. Despite the anguish he felt inside over her words, Jason gave her the most sincere smile he could muster.

"It's alright. We'll get through this," he added. "I'll answer any questions you have, and I won't push you," he added in, assuring her. "I'm still the same Jason you've always known," he put in, reminding her that husband or not, he was the red ranger, the leader, the one who protected their team. Trini smiled back and nodded. "What do you say we go join Kim and Zack, let you get to know Tyler a bit more?"

"Sounds good," Trini stated with a nod, although the idea of socializing even more with the toddler who'd insisted that he teach her about his dinosaurs because daddy had said she might have forgotten some things, scared her slightly. Especially because the boy's features reminded her so much of herself. She inhaled and exhaled, calming her nerves, as she stood up and followed Jason out into the back yard, still trying to get used to the fact that three of her teammates were much older than she was.

* * *

Adam really hadn't been thinking to clearly when Tanya had asked him if they could talk. So as a result, he was a bit surprised when he realized that there weren't too many options in Tommy's small two bedroom home. Luckily, none of the kids were napping at that point, so he pushed the door to the spare bedroom open, and gestured for his now teenage fiancée to follow him inside, blinking as the thought went through his head. His fiancée was a teenager. It was so incredibly wrong on so many levels. He shook his head as he sighed and closed the door behind her, leaning against it for a moment with his forehead touching the wood, left hand on the doorknob, while his right rested palm down beside his head. After a few seconds, he turned his head and then his body slowly to the left, releasing to door, only to find Tanya seated on the bed, her feet both planted firmly on the ground as she stared at her hands that rested on her knees. He realized, that as crazy as this was for him, she had it worse. He understood how they'd gone from friends to lovers, while Tanya was stuck with memory blanks, as well as trying to function around people she did and didn't know. He sighed and shook his head, walking over and sitting down beside her.

"You said you wanted to talk," he told her, trying to coax her to look up at him, after several long minutes of silence. Alone, without eyes watching them, Adam felt it was a bit easier to address her. Tanya nodded and blushed. "You can ask me anything," he told her when she didn't speak, trying to assess what might be going through her mind. He knew he would be freaking out if someone told his eighteen year old self that in less than a decade, he'd be engaged to Tanya. Not because he didn't have feelings for her, but because at that point in his life, he couldn't have imagined the possibility of her even agreeing to go out with him.

"This is real?" she finally worked up the courage to ask him. She opened her hand and held out her engagement ring to him. She'd taken it off. Adam's heart sank, as he took it from her. The idea was that once he'd placed it on her finger, it would never have left. Did it count that her finger, as well as the rest of her body, had regressed? Because technically, he hadn't ever placed it on her eighteen year old hand. Adam held the ring up and twirled it for a second, watching as the sunlight that filtered in through the window caught the marquis cut solitaire she'd hinted that she'd wanted for months, before he lowered it and nodded. He knew she wasn't asking about the ring, but rather what it meant.

"Yeah," Adam told her. "We made it official about four months ago," he added in, curling his hand around the ring tightly, and wincing slightly as the sharp edges cut against his skin. He kind of liked the slight pain. It reminded him that he wasn't dreaming. He was sitting in Tommy's house, talking to his fiancée who had yet to graduate from high school. He needed something to help him focus or he was seriously concerned that he might go off the deep end.

"Can I have it back?" Tanya asked, startling Adam. He had not expected that question. He blinked, looking up, surprised to see that Tanya had shifted her body so that she was facing him, one hand on her hip, the other hand extended palm up and open. Her eyebrow was raised, and for a brief moment, Adam forgot there was an age difference. However, he didn't see her as his nearly twenty eight year old fiancée. Instead, he felt like the shy high schooler who'd first been attracted to Tanya's assertiveness. His mouth opened slightly in a smile, his eyes glistening with laughter, clearly astonished, as he placed his closed fist into her extended hand and dropped the ring.

"You want it?" he couldn't stop himself from asking, puzzled, and Tanya's mouth pulled up at the corners. Her mind went back over the events since she'd come to. She'd almost lost it when Zack had drawn her attention to the ring on her finger in the basement/lab/place – wherever it was that she'd woken up. It had taken every ounce of self-control she had not to panic. And then when she finally saw him walk through the door and stare at her, she'd been afraid. Because there was fear and anger in his expression. Because despite knowing that she was going to see an adult, she'd still been expecting an eighteen year old. Because she didn't completely recognize him. And she'd been terrified he was no longer than Adam she knew.

But his question actually relaxed her. The look on his face, the sweet, shy smile he'd given her. The happiness she saw in his eyes told her that it didn't matter how much time had passed. Adam was still Adam. Zeo ranger four hadn't changed.

"Of course I do," she laughed, curling her fingers around the ring as he left it in her hand, and withdrew his own. She instantly felt much better than she had since she'd regained consciousness and had come face to face with an adult version of Rocky. She still couldn't understand how that boy was able to actually grow up – let alone become a father. Weren't there rules about maturity levels before those types of things were allowed to transpire? "You gave it to me, didn't you?" she asked him, still laughing slightly at his response. She couldn't keep herself from chuckling further, as a blush formed on Adam's cheeks. Yep; this was Adam. She didn't care that he was slightly taller, definitely not as lanky, and had a goatee. "Things are really different, now, huh?" Tanya asked, sliding the ring back onto her finger. At eighteen, it probably didn't belong there, but she was perfectly ok with leaving it in place. She placed either hand on the bed beside her and crossed her ankles, kicking them back and forth slightly while she studied the floor in front of her.

Adam grimaced slightly and ran one hand over the back of his head, contemplating how to answer her for a moment. "You could say that, I guess," he replied. "I mean, some things are the same," he added, looking at her. Her eyes were wide, eyebrows raised, in a motion that suggested she wanted him to give her examples to prove it. He laughed. He'd seen that look over the last decade of his life more often than he cared to count. "We're friends, aren't we? I mean, not just us, but Rocky, and Jason, and," he trailed off, realizing that he didn't want to lie to her about what had happened with Tommy, and he wasn't sure how to explain where Kat was, and she didn't even know who Justin was at that point.

"Tommy and Kimberly got back together, didn't they?" Tanya asked, suddenly, raising an eyebrow at Adam, a slightly disapproving look on her face. Adam frowned, searching his memories to try and figure out where the slight animosity he was sensing in her was coming from. He realized that in Tanya's mind, Tommy was dating Katherine. And all Tanya really knew of Kim was that she had broken Tommy's heart with a Dear John letter. She hadn't even met the original pink ranger before. It would several months before Kat and Tommy went their separate ways, and then a few years before Adam, Rocky, and Aisha would introduce her to the Kimberly they knew. Sure, Tanya would meet her after rescuing her from Divatox and Maligore, but they wouldn't start to become friends until later on. Right now, a slight dislike on Tanya's part was not surprising, considering how protective she was of her friends. Adam gave a slight smirk and nodded.

"Yes," he told her. "But not too long ago," he added in. "And he and Kat split amicably," he added in, letting her know that Kim was in no way responsible for the demise of that relationship. Well, Tommy's feelings for her might have been part of the reason things didn't work out with Kat, but that wasn't the point. "She's your friend now, too," Adam explained, trying to get her mind off Katherine. He wanted to avoid explaining Tommy abandoning his relationship with all of them. That wasn't something she needed to deal with at the moment.

Tanya nodded, realizing Adam was avoiding telling her something. He'd never been good at hiding things from her before, and apparently that wasn't something that would change either. She had a feeling it was the same thing that Rocky was avoiding earlier. Katherine's absence had something to do with it. She'd have to wait until he let his guard down a bit to get that answer. Right now, she could tell he was so uncomfortable with the situation, he was going to think through every word that came out of his mouth.

"So," she stated, kicking her legs back and forth again, her mind off Tommy's crazy love life and back on to the one the she was apparently involved with. She looked down at her feet and peaked out at Adam from underneath her eyelashes.

"So," Adam repeated back, a slight smirk on his face. Why was she making him feel like he was the one back in high school? He was never this quiet or tongue tied anymore, but one look at her and he was eighteen again. Not completely, of course. But he felt the nerves and anxieties he'd always felt around her when they were young seeping back in.

"Four months ago?" Tanya finally asked, using as few words as she could.

"After three years of dating," Adam stated with a nod of his head. He didn't turn to face her. He wasn't sure he wanted to see her expression.

"So, twenty four?" she asked, and Adam shook his head.

"Closer to twenty five," was his simple reply. Their words were short, her questions and his answers direct. But there was emotion behind them. Curiosity and trepidation on her part, caution and nerves on his.

"Why so long?" Tanya asked gulping and turning her head back to face him after several moments of silence. She wouldn't tell him; not out right. She'd been waiting a while for him to ask her out. All he had to do was ask, and she'd say yes. She'd dropped hints, or so she'd thought. Adam felt her gaze on him and sighed, kicking himself mentally. She was the teenager, not him. This was really making him uncomfortable and highly confused. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fingers, before turning to meet her gaze with a strong one of his own, although inside he felt anything but strong.

"I was," he stated, his tongue twisting in his mouth, as he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Did her question mean that she really had wanted him to ask her earlier? Tanya had always told him she felt like they'd been together forever; that she'd been impatient, but he'd always thought it was her way of teasing him. But she was sitting there now, eighteen years old, and something in her voice told him that she cared about him, as more than a friend. Had that always been there? When he was eighteen, had he been too shy and too much of a teenage idiot to see it? He paused, struggling to find the words to explain.

Until they'd graduated, Adam had been too shy to say anything about his feelings. He was glad when she'd broken up with Shawn, he'd contemplated asking her out, but again, he'd been unable to bring himself to do so. Once they'd graduated, Adam had mentally used the excuse that with their part time jobs and their full time 'job', they were too busy to date. He ignored the fact that Tommy and Kat seemed to be doing ok for a little. And then there was college and Tanya started her career at the recording studio. Adam had watched her date a few different guys over that time, while he and Rocky worked on bringing up their dojo to one of the best in the area. He never dated anyone, and it was actually Rocky who got things started. Rocky challenged him to a sparring match, and said the looser had to accept one dare from the winner, no matter what it was. Adam wasn't sure if the morphing grid had had something to do with Rocky winning that day, or if Rocky had really done it on his own. Either way, he found himself at a restaurant waiting for his blind date that Rocky had assured him would be there. Said blind date had happened to be Tanya – who'd been set up herself by Aisha. And that was pretty much how it had started.

"Tanya," he finally stated, "do you really need to ask that?" he laughed slightly, getting a grin in return as she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly.

"No," she laughed. "You're just you," she added, sighing, as she felt him stiffen slightly in her hug. "I'm still a legal adult you know," she laughed at his reaction, and Adam shook his head, pushing her off him slightly.

"That's just too weird," Adam told her sternly, getting a mock glare from Tanya as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're a kid," he laughed.

"Eighteen is not a little kid," Tanya retorted, rolling her eyes, a smirk on her face as she did. Adam's face lit up in a smile, as he shook his head laughing, and remembering how not all that long ago, the person arguing with him over being a kid was Kira. Yep, yellow rangers were all cut from the same cloth. "It's not," she insisted, laughing a bit as well. She sighed. "Adam, are you ok?" she asked him, and he paused, sighing. She should not have been the one worried about him.

"In all honesty," Adam laughed, shaking his head. "I shouldn't even be surprised that something like this happened," he told her, cynically. He was sure of it now. Morphing grid was out to get them all.

"Yeah, but," she went on, a grin on her face, though her eyes showed concern. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine," he assured her, taking a deep breath. "Especially once Billy gets here and we get him to fix this mess. We're getting married in two months. I kind of need you back to normal before then," he told her, amused that he finally seemed to be able to catch her off guard as she blinked in response to his revelation. Her expression of stun was priceless. "Come on, let's go join the others before they get worried and come looking," he added in, standing up and leading the way back into the hallway.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed. This one was more of a serious emotional chapter, and I got to explore my ideas for how Adam/Tanya finally came to be, as well as how Jason/Trini eventually ended up together. Before the fic is over, I'll explain Rocky/Aisha a bit as well, although if you read Chronology Conundrum, you know a bit of the background - they each started to have feelings for each other around seventeen and the certain arrival of competition for Aisha's affections caused Rocky to realize his a bit more. Explanation will pick up from there, eventually. Aisha is clearly having a much different reaction to her future than Trini and Tanya are.

Anyway, it would make my 30th Birthday (I'm an original MMPR fan) on Thursday super awesome if I got lots of reviews, so, let me know what you think.

Fateless


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone, Thanks for all the Birthday Wishes. I had a great 30th Birthday.

Sorry about the wait. Life's been a bit of a roller coaster. We found out our 4 year old boxer mix has a tumor in his lung that needs to be removed for him to live. So I've been a bit stressed dealing with that and the Go Fund Me account we set up to help him. Chapter 18 isn't fully written yet, but I felt you guys waited over two weeks, so you deserved another chapter. As always thanks for the support.

Anyway, enough rambling. Hope you all enjoy.

* * *

Kira pulled her cell phone out of her pocket the moment she hit the landing at the bottom of the stairs in the basement, only catching a few words of the conversation between her male teammates behind her. Tommy was quiet, but Connor and Trent were ribbing Ethan some more about his fear of the former white ranger. Kira rolled her eyes, a slight smile on her lips as she realized that Connor and Trent were actually helping Ethan cope by doing so. She cast her eyes to the screen on her phone as she stepped away from the guys towards the computer and winced. She had a bunch of text messages from Haley, each seemingly more frantic than the next. The sound on her phone had been turned down, so she hadn't heard them or the few missed calls she'd received from the same person. Sighing, she flopped into one of the computer chairs, hit the call back button and leaned back, watching the four male teenagers.

"About time," Haley's voice answered after the third ring, her tone a cross between angry and absolutely terrified. "What the hell happened?"

"Sorry Haley," Kira replied. "The device kind of exploded, and we've been dealing with the fallout," she added, her eyes lingering on Ethan. The blue clad teenager seemed to be relaxing a bit more now that he was only surrounded by his teammates. Kira wondered if Kim had actually realized that sending the dino thunder team off on their own would have more than her intended consequence of getting the original rangers alone.

"Exploded?" Haley practically shouted. "What the hell did Connor and Tommy do to it?" she added, and Kira could hear the sounds of her pacing. She hoped Haley was alone.

"No idea," Kira stated, with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I didn't see any damage. I suppose the redirection of the energy current could have caused a surge which would have resulted in an overload in the main matrix which potentially could have generated the explosion. But Ethan didn't notice anything unusual about the energy levels. Put him on," Haley commanded, and Kira winced, turning her back on her friends and resting her elbows on the computer desk in front of her, clutching the phone in one hand, her head in the other.

"Um… Haley," she stated, "remember I said there was fallout."

The line went quiet, and all Kira could hear was the Haley breathing slowly and deeply, apparently trying to keep her cool on the other end of the line.

"I don't think I want to know," Haley finally choked out. There was something of a strangled sob sound in her voice that betrayed her. Kira smiled slightly, part of her relieved to know their tech was human after all.

"Yeah," Kira chuckled slightly, casting a glance back at her former teammates. "It's a bit of a mess over here. When are you coming home again?"

"Friday," Haley replied, and sighed. "But maybe I should change my plans and come home earlier," she thought out loud.

"No," was the teenage girl's reply. "It's a little nuts, but no one is in danger," she added. "Dr. O would blame himself if he ruined the reunion you're having with your friends. We can handle things till you and Billy get here," she added in.

"Well," Haley laughed slightly, "it would be his fault," she added, and let herself pause. A moment later she spoke again. "Alright, tell me how bad it is."

"The device is a total goner. Can't even recognize it," Kira informed her, her gaze landing on the twisted hunk of burnt metal off on the side of the room, along with the mess that was the result of the explosion. When she hung up with Haley she was going to have her teammates start cleaning up. Haley wouldn't appreciate having to come home and work in the lab if it remained trashed. "I don't think it's going to be a repair job."

"We'll have to start from scratch," Haley finished the thought for the former yellow ranger. Kira's expression was grim, as she nodded, even though Haley couldn't see her. She knew Haley would take her silence as confirmation. "But that's not the worst of it, huh?"

"Not by far," Kira chuckled darkly. "Trini, Aisha, Tanya, and Ethan have all been regressed as well," Kira stated.

"Fuck," Haley cursed, and Kira's eyes flew open, as she suppressed the urge to giggle at the use of profanity from the normal calm under stress Haley. "How far back did they go?" she asked after a minute.

"They were thinking about evil rangers," Kira began, "so Trini went back to when Dr. O was the evil green ranger, about fifteen," she explained.

"Makes sense," Haley stated, and Kira could hear the exhaustion in her voice.

"Aisha's about sixteen – something about a run in with an evil clone of Dr. O; and Tanya's about eighteen. Dr. O was kidnapped and has his memory wiped at that point," she explained. "And Ethan," she began.

"He went back to early on, when Trent was still controlled by the darkness in the white Dino gem," Haley finished for her. "Poor Ethan; Poor Trent," she stated.

"They're doing ok," Kira confirmed, not surprised that Haley could figure out the current situation among the dino thunder team. "Trent doesn't blame Ethan, and Ethan's doing a good job of trusting Connor and I when we explain how things have changed.

"Well, that's good at least; and he hasn't gone back to far," Haley stated, and then sighed. "Listen Kira," she began, "I still need you to put Ethan on. Memory or not, I need him to check something and he's the only one that can do it."

"No problem Haley," Kira stated, with a nod. "Hang on a second," she added, turning again to face the teenage boys. Connor and Trent were catching both Tommy and Ethan up on dino thunder history, doing their best to answer both younger boys' questions. "Ethan," Kira called out, getting the former blue ranger's attention. He looked up towards her, a questioning look on his face when he noticed she had her hand over the speaker on her cell phone. "Haley needs to talk to you," she began and Ethan's face paled. Kira laughed. "You're not in trouble," she told him. "She needs the computer genius's help."

Ethan sighed as the color came back to his cheeks and he nodded, walking over to her. Connor, Trent, and Tommy followed as Kira handed Ethan the cell phone, and took Kira's seat at the computer. Kira hit the speaker phone button on her cell phone and placed it on the desk beside him, before nodding to the nervous Ethan. "Hey Haley," he stuttered slightly as he spoke.

"Hey Ethan," Haley replied calmly and kindly; Ethan visibly relaxed. "How you holding up?"

"Things are weird," Ethan acknowledged, "but I'm doing alright. The guys are helping; but Dr. O's a kid," he stated.

"Hey!" Tommy replied, glaring at the older regressed teenager playfully. Ethan smirked, while Trent and Connor just snickered and shook their heads.

"Haley," Kira whined, "do you see what I have to put up with?" she added with amusement in her voice.

Haley laughed lightly, glad that the teenagers seemed to be coping fairly well with the current state of their team. "I do," she laughed. "Don't worry," she added, "we'll fix this soon."

"Good," Trent and Connor both stated at the same time, grinning at each other.

"So what do you need me to do Haley?" Ethan asked her.

"Is the main computer on?" she asked him, and Ethan responded with the affirmative. "Good. I need to check if the automatic back up stored the mental patterns of you, Trini, Tanya, and Aisha before the explosion caused you to regress. We already confirmed that it backed up Tommy's."

"And if it didn't?" Ethan asked, waking up the computer and opening a folder. Haley was silent for a few moments, unsettling the dino thunder team. "Haley?" Ethan asked, his voice indicating his nerves.

"I'm not sure Ethan," Haley replied. "I can't guarantee we can return anyone to normal without the proper mental patterns," she told them the truth. Ethan paled, dropping his hands away from the key board.

"They'll be there," Connor assured him, placing his hand on Ethan's shoulder and squeezing it. "And if not," he continued, fear and determination in his eyes, "we'll find another way," he added. Ethan nodded. "Come on guys," Connor stated, indicating Tommy, Kira, and Trent. "Let's give Haley and Ethan some time to work," he added. Kira and Trent nodded, Ethan sighed and turned back to the computer, as the other four walked off towards the disaster area of the lab. Ethan could hear Kira giving direction on how to get things cleaned up.

"Tell me what to do Haley?" Ethan stated, resolving that he was going to find the files.

* * *

"You know," Rocky stated, shaking his head and taking his eyes off the road for a moment, to glance at Aisha who was seated in the passenger seat of the minivan. There was a stack of pizzas on the middle seat behind her, and some wings and desserts in the seat behind him. "You didn't say a word the entire way to the pizza place. Kim's going to know we didn't talk," he told her, observing the fact that her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was glaring out the windshield in front of her, purposely not making eye contact with him. They'd ridden in silence, as Rocky turned down the radio's volume, and she didn't quite have the courage to turn it back up. He may have been Rocky DeSantos, one of her best friends, but he was definitely an adult, and she was definitely not. She didn't respond, just deepened her glare, indicating she had heard him. "Come on 'sha," he told her, a little bit of begging tinged in his voice. "We've got to talk."

"What do you want to talk about, Rocky," Aisha growled, not looking away from the path of the vehicle. Every aspect of her demeanor suggested she wanted to be far away from him, and absolutely did not want to talk. Rocky sighed and shook his head.

"How about starting with why you're so angry with me," he suggested, glancing at her and raising an eyebrow before turning back to face the road to ensure that they didn't end up in a fiery collision and therefore starving the rest of the group back at Tommy's. He was fairly certain that Adam would take in his children, he was their Godfather, after all. Priorities were important. His volume was a bit louder than he'd intended, but he was a bit ticked off at the entire situation. His wife was a child and to make matters worse, she wanted nothing to do with him in any way. It wasn't fair. A normal life; that's all he wanted after the years he'd dedicated to protecting the planet. Was it really so much to ask? At that point, he needed all his self-control not to hit the steering wheel. Mentally, he promised himself he was going to hit Tommy again. It was his stupid device that had caused this mess in the first place.

Aisha flinched in response to his near shout, not expecting him to react that way. She turned her head violently to glare at him. He wanted to know why she was angry. Well, in her opinion, he'd just answered his own question. Nothing, especially not him, was how she remembered it. The Rocky she knew wouldn't have yelled. He would have smirked and made a joke. One of her best friends wasn't her best friend anymore. He'd been replaced by a grown man, who she'd end up married to. Who she'd have children with. And she didn't know him. He was different. And she didn't like feeling like she didn't know him. But it wasn't his fault that he'd grown up, and as far as her mind could process, she hadn't. A few tears welled up in her eyes. "You grew up!" she shouted at him, not breaking her glare, even as a few of the tears spilled over.

"Well yeah," Rocky spat back, rolling his eyes slightly. "That's kind of what happens when time passes, Aisha," he added, glaring at her in return before shifting his eyes back to the road. She was being ridiculous. If she was mad at him because of something he couldn't stop, well, that was her problem. "You did too, you know. That stupid chair is what turned you back into a kid," he added.

"I'm not a little kid!" she growled, clearly not happy with what he said.

"Well, you're acting like one," Rocky stated with a snicker of angry disbelief. He didn't even bother looking at her for that one. Silence enveloped them, except for a few sniffles from the teenager in the passenger seat as she struggled to prevent herself from breaking down sobbing. Rocky sighed, and opened his mouth to say something.

"I'm not angry with you," she stated, cutting him off. "I'm angry with myself."

"Yourself?" Rocky asked, frowning. He glanced back and forth from the road to her face, seeing her tears. He sighed, and slowly brought the van off the road and onto the shoulder, before putting it in park. "Aisha, why are you mad at yourself?" his tone was more gentle than he'd been a moment before, although his face clearly betrayed his confusion. She wasn't making any sense.

"Because," Aisha began, shaking her head as she came to a loss of words. She didn't know how to verbalize how she was feeling. Lost, confused, desperate. All she wanted was to be someplace where things made sense. Where she wasn't older than Tommy, but younger than the rest of her team. Where there weren't countless other rangers that she barely knew or didn't know at all. Where she wasn't married to Rocky. Where she didn't have children. But at the same time, she didn't want to hurt him. And so she was angry at herself for having her teenage desire to have her life make some type of sense. She put her face in her hands, hiding the few tears that fell silently from her eyes. She didn't want to cry in front of him. She'd never done it before. Aisha Campbell didn't cry. She fought back. But she couldn't exactly fight this.

Rocky swiftly threw off his seat belt and leaned close to her, wrapping the teenager in his arms and placing his head on top of hers; surprising her. Of course he knew she was crying, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. Even if he hadn't been her husband; even if he'd been sixteen too, he knew her well enough. "Easy," he told her, stroking the back of her head, "it's going to be alright."

"How can you say that," she asked him, pulling away after a few moments and wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. "Rocky, I don't remember loving you," she told him, looking him in the eyes. "Not the way you and those kids need me to," she added. She wasn't stupid. She knew Katie and Luke needed their mother, and that Rocky needed his wife. She just didn't feel capable of being either of those things.

"That's because you don't yet," Rocky told her, exhaling sharply. Her words stung a little, but he knew they were true. Neither one of them would have admitted anything to themselves at sixteen. He wasn't sure that at sixteen there had been anything to feel yet. He knew things had changed when they were rangers, before she'd left for Africa, but he'd never really thought on back on exactly when he'd started to feel different. He sighed and shook his head gently. "And that's ok. You're not my wife yet," he told her, and Aisha flinched slightly at the word wife, causing Rocky to grin, and laugh at her slightly. Aisha glared at him for a moment before cracking a smile herself. That was her Rocky. Easy to laugh; never could stay serious for more than a few seconds. She hit him with the back of her hand and shifted so she was sitting back in the seat properly again, a grin on her own face.

"You done yet?" she asked him, as he continued to chuckle, rolling her eyes, and then turning her head back to face him. Rocky sighed and nodded, but he didn't turn back to face the road. Instead he stared at her. "What?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest again.

"We still need to talk," he insisted, rubbing his temple with his thumb and index finger. "You're not getting off that easily. You just need to know, I'm not expecting you to be anyone you're not. Just be Aisha Campbell, at sixteen. I'm ok with that." He was lying about the last part. There was absolutely no part of his being that was ok with the fact that his wife was sixteen. But she really didn't need to know the truth. He laughed slightly, reminding himself – laugh or go insane. He was pretty sure he was well over halfway to insanity.

"You are?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow. She titled her head to the side, waiting for his reply. She'd been terrified of his expectations of her. She'd been scared he would expect her to be his wife. She just wanted to be his friend. Rocky sighed and nodded. "Good," she laughed, "because I'm not ready to be a mom."

"I should hope not," Rocky laughed in response. "But I can't promise you won't be asked to be one," he told her, as his laughter died away. He looked at her, his eyes serious and a little sad. "Katie won't understand that you're really not her mother. She's got enough friends and family around, that she probably won't need her mom much, but still," he told the teenager, who nodded once in understanding.

"I think I can be there for Katie," Aisha assured him. "If she needs me. I'll try at least," she promised.

"It was never Katie and Luke you were worried about, was it?" Rocky asked her, watching her eyes. Aisha sighed and shook her head, looking away from him. "Aisha," Rocky told her gently. "We've been friends since kindergarten. And no matter what changes occur in your life, I will always be your friend. I'm a big boy now," he laughed. "I'll be ok."

"You're sure?" Aisha asked him, looking up from her hands. She hadn't wanted to hurt him. She just couldn't imagine being in any type of romantic relationship with him. It was just too bizarre. Even if he'd been regressed to her current physical age. Rocky was her friend. Just like Adam was her friend. She didn't want him to be anything more. Her mind could not understand how he'd become anything more.

"Yes," Rocky told her simply, although in his head, he wanted to scream that he was not ok. There was absolutely nothing ok about this. "Is there anything you want to know?"

Aisha sighed and shook her head. She wasn't ready to ask about them. She knew that's what Rocky meant. She didn't want to know when they would start dating. She didn't want to know when they'd first said I love you, or how he proposed, or when they got married. She didn't want to think about it. For as long as she was stuck, she just wanted to be Aisha and have him be Rocky, separate entities, not a married couple. She bit down on her lip and looked at her hand. The rings were still there. She stared at them and Rocky followed her gaze. He knew she wasn't trying to hurt him. He knew that she currently loved him like a brother. He knew that one day she'd love him the same way he loved her, but it was not at that point.

"I'll hold them for you," he managed to choke out, holding his hand out to her, as he fought another wave of anger. Not at her, but at the circumstances. The rings were freaking her out. Just like the kids were freaking her out. But he could help her avoiding having to be their mom – he could take primary responsibility of caring for them; let Aisha act as an older sister if she wanted. If the rings stayed on her hand, there was nothing he could say that would help her ignore the fact that they were married. So he set his own feelings aside and put hers first. She needed him to do that. He was the adult, as much as he didn't want to be.

Aisha sighed. She was pretty sure Rocky thought she hadn't heard how upset he was in his voice. But he'd been the one to point out how long they'd been friends. She knew him just as well as he knew her. He may have grown up and changed from exactly what she remembered, but she knew him well enough to know when he wasn't happy. Still, she had to admit the rings made her uncomfortable, and he was the one who seemed to want to protect her, so she nodded, and tugged them both off her finger, feeling their weight both literally and figuratively gone. She placed them lightly in his outstretched hand, which he immediately closed into a fist, without looking at them. She wasn't sure where she'd expected him to put them, but he didn't transfer their location. Instead, he kept them wrapped in his fingers as he put the van back in drive and eased them out onto the road, as silence re-enveloped them.

"Rocky," Aisha stated as she noticed Tommy's house up ahead, after they'd been driving quietly for a while.

"Hmm?" he answered, not really feeling like talking.

"Thanks," she mumbled, and Rocky noticed the tiny relaxed smile on her face. Angry as he was, he sighed, realizing she was more relaxed than he'd seen her since before she'd become a victim of the evil chair. He let a slight smirk appear on his face. She might not have wanted him for her husband at the moment, but she still wanted and needed him to be her friend. And he was going to have to be content with that until they were able to get things back to their usual relative state of normal.

"No problem. Let's get the pizza in the house. Katie's probably driven them all crazy because she's hungry," Rocky laughed, putting the van in park in the drive way.

"So she takes after you then?" Aisha laughed, feeling a lot better now that she knew Rocky wasn't expecting her to be his wife. Without that worry in the back of her mind, she was a lot more relaxed and she could recognize her friend in the grown up he had become.

"Haha, real funny," he told her, shaking his head and giving her a mock glare, which just caused the regressed ranger to laugh harder as she helped him grab the food from the back seat of the van.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon and evening had been fairly uneventful, because next to regressing four individuals, everything else is just humdrum. Ethan was jumping less and had become a bit more relaxed around Trent as the day went by, although he definitely wouldn't have said that he completed trusted the former white ranger. All five dino thunder teenagers had reported good news. Ethan had succeeded in finding the memory files and Haley was confident that she and Billy could fix things. But she had begged them all not to tamper with anything until she got back on Friday. Trini had still seemed a bit on edge around Tommy, which wasn't helping the teenage boy's self-confidence, mainly because he figured he actually deserved to have people afraid of him, despite that even she argued that it wasn't true. She'd practically begged Tommy, Jason, Zack, and Kim to tell her every detail about how Rita's hold on Tommy had been broken. After that, she'd been able to relax a whole lot more, by the time they'd all finished eating dinner. Tanya seemed the most relaxed of all five of the chair's victims, but that probably because she was the oldest and of course the fact that while she was surprised by her relationship with Adam, it hadn't mortified her. True to her word, Aisha was trying her best to be there for Katie and for Luke. At one point, she even volunteered to change Luke's diaper, since Katie was reading a book with her father on the floor, and the little girl got upset every time Rocky's attention waivered. Unfortunately, Luke was a five month old baby boy, and the moment air hit his tiny boy parts, he spurted a stream of pee in the air, causing the sixteen year old to scream and mutter 'ew ew ew' as she backed as far away from the baby on the floor as she possibly could. Amid the laughter, Kimberly had dropped onto the floor from her seat on the sofa and covered the baby up while he giggled, shaking her head at her teenage friend, before finishing the diaper change.

Once dinner had been cleaned up, Trent had announced he was leaving early that evening as he had to work the morning shift at Cyberspace, and he wanted to make sure everything was running smoothly so he was going to go in a few hours before opening. Kira had immediately opted to go with him, which prompted Connor to determine it was time to head home, agreeing to take Ethan with him, and catch him up on more of his life before they let the teenager go home to his parents. They all promised to call the next day and find out what the plan for the day was, since clearly, the five regressed rangers were going to be stuck that way for a while.

The stars had just started to appear in the sky when the visiting former rangers finally decided that they should get going as well, considering Luke was sound asleep, and the two toddlers were getting cranky and fussy. In the chaos of gathering belongings and getting everyone into the cars, amidst shouts from Katie that she wanted to sit next to 'mommy', not one had really paid much attention to things. As a result, Rocky and Adam found themselves walking towards their two hotel rooms on the tenth floor, Rocky carried Luke, who remained asleep in his carrier, leading the two teenage girls, who each had one of Katie's hands clasped in their own, all three giggling and laughing. They reached the doors and Adam pulled out his room key, and opened the door, leading everyone inside since Rocky had his hands full and couldn't get to his wallet. They left adjoining door between the rooms open, and he could enter that way.

"Um," Tanya muttered as Adam shoved the room key back into his wallet and turned on the light. She surveyed the room. "I think we have a slight problem," she stated, when Adam frowned, and then followed her eyes to the king sized bed that occupied a majority of the space. His face paled and he ran his hand over it, realization hitting him. Tanya smirked at him, and Adam blushed. No way; no how; eighteen might have been legal, but there was a ten year age difference he was not willing to ignore. Rocky had already disappeared into the room he and Aisha had booked to get the kids ready for bed, while Katie had released her mother and aunt's hands, and followed him. Aisha, realizing what Tanya was indicating, blushed and dropped her gaze to the floor.

Adam sighed and shook his head. Of course they couldn't share a bed. And even a hotel room would be pushing it. "Don't worry about it," he stated, after a moment, still feeling quite embarrassed. "I'll share with Rocky," he added hesitating, "you two girls can stay here, alright?" he asked them, and both teenagers nodded.

"Are you sure?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Adam burned a bright red again which made Tanya snort out a laugh. She was having a lot of fun teasing him. The current situation seemed to have made him shyer than she remembered. She may have been younger, but her boldness definitely gave her the upper hand. "I don't mind."

"Absolutely," Adam retorted, a bit of a horrified look on his features, until he realized she was joking. He sighed, and rolled his eyes. "And Aisha needs someplace to stay," he added, indicating the fact that he realized that the younger teenage girl clearly realized if Adam shared with Tanya, that would leave her with Rocky and her children. He could definitely understand why she was struggling with things.

"What about Rocky?" the former red and blue ranger asked, sticking his head back through the doorway, having heard his name. Katie was hanging on his back around his neck, and his volume was quiet so as not to wake Luke.

"Sleeping arrangements," Adam muttered looking away from his friend and down towards his feet, because he really didn't know where else to look. Aisha reminded him of the awkwardness, and Tanya was causing him to blush more than a high school boy with a crush. Rocky frowned for a moment, trying to figure out what he his best friend was talking about, before his eyes opened in realization.

"Oh," he stated and paused. "Shit," he added, forgetting the toddler, who was clad in a pull up and pink tank top from her pajamas, and generating a scolding sound from her.

"Daddy Ranger bad word," Katie stated, her little eyes going wide as Rocky let her slide off his back and onto the floor. However, Rocky actually didn't pay her any more attention other than to wince slightly, mentally trying to remind himself that no matter the situation, he couldn't shirk his fatherly duties of setting a good example, especially around a child whose mind was like a sponge. His eyes were still locked on Aisha, who was looking down at her feet. He sighed and shook his head, taking Katie's hand, though the little girl was glaring at him.

"They can share?" Rocky asked Adam, turning his head to his friend. Adam nodded once, and Rocky did as well, turning to look back at Aisha with a sigh again. "I'll get some of your stuff together," Rocky stated after a moment, shaking his head, and leading Katie back into their room, taking his eyes off Aisha and disappearing. His words were enough to shake Adam out of his stupor, and the former black and green ranger began to gather some of his own things, throwing them into one of the suitcases.

"Adam?" Tanya asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. He stiffened slightly at the contact, but turned and tried to give her a reassuring smile. He hadn't realized she'd gotten that close to him, and the physical contact made him a bit uncomfortable. He reached over to the TV stand and slid a second room key she'd left there that morning into his hand, passing it to his regressed fiancée. If they were staying separately, she'd need it.

"It's alright, really," he told her, his voice gentle, despite the upheaval he felt inside. He grabbed a few more things from the bathroom and tossed them into his bag, before nodding to both girls and walking into the adjoining room. Aisha and Tanya traded a look before Rocky reemerged and handed Aisha a duffle bag.

"Thanks," she muttered, and Rocky nodded, running his hand through his hair. There was no comfortable way to handle the situation.

"Right then," Rocky stated with a sigh. "You two will be alright here?"

"Yeah," Tanya told him, wrapping one arm around Aisha's shoulders. The younger teenage was once again staring at her feet, her dark skinned face flushed pink. The hotel room had clearly reminded her of what she was trying to forget. "Thanks Rocky," she added with a slight smile. "I got this," she added, trying to reassuring him. She could clearly read the concern on his face.

Rocky nodded again and turned his back, heading into the darkened room he'd now share with his best friend instead of his wife. He shut the door and then leaned back against it, his eyes adjusting to the dim light, a strange sound escaping his throat that may have been either a sadistic laugh or a sob, or a mixture of both. Adam sat on the end of one of the beds, his head clutched in his hands, as Katie hung like a monkey around his neck. Rocky groaned quietly and ran his hand over his face, as he got himself under control. "I need a drink," he stated simply, his eyes reflecting his anger at the situation, as he pressed the back of his head against the door and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was officially done laughing.

"That is an understatement," Adam retorted, his voice dry. Clearly, he was well past amused as well. He shook his head, and sighed. "What now?" he asked, noticing that Rocky had moved, putting the shoes he'd already removed back on. He frowned, his expression showing that he was clearly puzzled.

"I wasn't kidding," Rocky retorted, moving to the diaper bag on the second bed, and throwing a few bottles, formula powder, and diapers into it, while Adam watched. "Put her pants on, will you?" he stated, without explaining anything to his friend. Adam's facial expression didn't change, but he did stand up, and grab hold of the pink pajama bottoms that lay on the bed. Wrestling them onto Katie, however, was not an easy task, as the little girl giggled and fidgeted. Finally, he allowed her to hang from his neck, her legs and feet dangling in the air, allowing him to swiftly pull her pants up to her waist, while Rocky scooped the sleeping Luke out of his pack and play and back into his baby seat. He looked up and met Adam square in the eyes. "I told you, I need a drink. I bet we're not the only ones," he added. "Let's go!"

"Where?" Adam asked, still not fully understanding. But seeing how determined Rocky was to either not give him a straight answer, or possibly it was just the fact that the former red ranger had a one track mind, he sighed and scooped Katie into his arms, and grabbed Rocky's discarded wallet off the dresser before following. The former red ranger was a bit too preoccupied to remember he'd need money and a room key to get back in.

Rocky led the way to the elevator and down two floors, before studying the sign on the wall for a moment, and then turning and wandering down the hall. Adam had a vague idea of where they were going, but was still frowning slightly when Rocky halted before what seemed like a random door and knocked twice, not exactly attempting to be quiet.

Jason, fully dressed, shoes on and wallet in hand pulled open the door immediately, as if he'd been standing right on the other side of it. His face did not show any surprise at seeing Rocky and Adam with the kids standing in front of him. Rocky raised an eyebrow. "Drink?" he asked his predecessor.

"You read my mind," he stated, stepping back and letting his two former Zeo teammates enter the room, where they saw Zack sitting on one of the beds, flipping through the TV channels, Tyler on the floor in his pajamas playing with his dinosaurs. Trini was nowhere to be seen, but the adjoining door was cracked open slightly and a dim glow of a lamp could be seen from inside. "Zack," Jason addressed the first black ranger, while Rocky placed the baby carrier on the bed beside him, and Adam set Katie down on the floor. The two and a half year old, immediately ran over to Tyler to play with him. "Watch the kids. We'll be back. Bed time in ten minutes," Jason added, his last statement directed at both the man and the toddlers.

"But," Zack began, as Rocky bent down to tell Katie to behave, and kissed her on the forehead. Jason glared at him, and Zack sighed and shook his head, waving the other three former rangers off, as the three of them left the room and headed down to the hotel's bar, Adam handing Rocky his wallet.

It may have been summer, but Reefside wasn't exactly a tourist attraction. That, coupled with the fact that it was a Monday night, meant that the hotel bar was practically deserted. A young couple sat at a small table in the front, while another pair of men were watching a baseball game on the bar's television, drinking beers. The three Zeo rangers grabbed stools at a high top table at the very back of the bar, where they knew it would be unlikely that they would be overheard. A young waitress dressed in black immediately came and took their drink orders, which were simple enough. Three of the bar's strongest beers. The look in their eyes told the girl not to ask questions or try to make small talk. They weren't in the mood for chatter. In fact, none of the three said a word during the amount of time it took her to bring them their drinks, and then scurry off again. All three made eye contact, lifted their drinks, and downed nearly half of them in one gulp.

"Damn," Jason finally choked out, setting his glass back down on the table, making a fist with his other hand. "What a fucking day," he added in, shaking his head.

"You can say that again," Rocky laughed, darkly. Adam just nodded, both his hands clasped around his glass, his face pointed down as he studied the wood grain on the table. "Pretty sure the expression 'bat shit crazy' might apply," he added, getting snickers of sarcastic laughter from Jason and Adam.

Jason sighed and looked up at the other two, smirking as he did. "Remind me again how we got into this mess?" he asked them, raising his glass and downing the rest of the amber colored liquid that it contained. He knew of course, but he didn't want to be the one to formally acknowledge it.

"Two words," Adam replied, glaring at the table and shaking his head. "Tommy Oliver," he added, with a sigh, before he chugged the last of his beer as well. Rocky snorted and followed suit, as Jason raised his hand to get the waitress's attention. Surprised that they'd finished their first round so quickly, wide eyed, she brought them each a second beer.

"Keep them coming," Jason told her. "We need it after the day we had," he added, getting nods of agreement from the other two Zeo rangers. The waitress gave them a concerned look before walking off. They had a feeling that people didn't often open unending tabs in the hotel bar. Granted, none of them really cared at that moment. All three of them had romantic partners that they could no longer properly touch, even if the girls would have let them. Two of them had to deal with the fact that their spouses no longer remembered having children, while the third was dealing with a highly assertive and slightly flirtatious regressed fiancée. "Where were we?" Jason asked, as soon as they were alone again.

"Tommy, and how this is all his fault," Rocky answered, the dark grin still on his face, as all three of them began to drain their second beers. It wasn't exactly anything new. The chaos in their life was often Tommy related. Two years before, it had been Tommy, through Andros, who'd contacted Jason for the moon mission; and it had been Tommy, four months before who'd time traveled and sent them on a crazy missions involving evil rangers and zeo morphs.

"Right," Jason and Adam both answered at the same time, as Jason balled his free hand into a fist and struck the table. There was a loud bang as he did, and their beers sloshed in the glasses slightly. Had they not already decreased the contents to about halfway, there would have been liquid all over the table. As it was, the scant amount of other patrons were now looking at the three of them, and the waitress and bartender were glaring. "Sorry," Jason muttered in their direction, before looking back to see his two former teammates smirking.

"Feel better?" Adam asked, his eyebrow raised, clearly amused by the first power ranger leader's antics. Jason glared at him and shook his head, running his hand over his face. Punching a table did absolutely nothing to curb his irritation at the situation. "Didn't think so," Adam added in, his eyes still dark. He knew there was only one thing to hit that would make any of them feel remotely better. Normally, he wouldn't have considered it, but there was now some pretty strong alcohol coursing through his veins. "It's illegal to beat a teenager right?" he asked, looking from Jason who was now smirking to Rocky who wasn't doing a good job of hiding the laughter that was threatening to come out.

"Pretty sure that's child abuse, frog boy," Rocky replied, his eyes dancing for a moment, before he downed the rest of his second beer. "Where's the waitress?"

"Jason scared her off," Adam replied, casting his gaze around as well for the woman who was the supplier of alcohol. He was out as well. Jason drained his glass, and scanned the bar, before sighing and hopping off his stool. Adam and Rocky watched him wander over to the bar, and lean against it, both of his elbows on the countertop, his hands clasped in front of him. He kept his voice, low, so they couldn't hear what he said, but he appeared to be discussing something with the bartender. Jason's expression suggested he was giving the young man a no nonsense type of talk. A moment later the hotel employee sighed, and grabbed two large pitchers from under the bar and placed them on the counter. He filled each with the rangers' beer of choice, and frowned as Jason grabbed both, one in each hand, before he went back under the bar and grabbed two more. He began to fill them, while Jason brought the first two to the table.

"Go grab those for us, will you, Rocky?" Jason asked, as the former blue Zeo ranger happened to be sitting on the outside of the table. Frowning, clearly not sure what had happened, Rocky nodded, and went to do as Jason asked, while Adam watched Jason, wide eyed, as he set the first two pitchers on the table. "That's better," Jason stated, seating himself and the lifting and filling his glass from the first pitcher. Rocky returned a moment later with the second two.

"How did you," Adam began, his mouth and eyes clearly showing his confusion, before he shook his head and sighed, lifting the pitcher Jason had just set down and pouring himself his third glass. "You know what, never mind. I don't care," he added.

"There's alcohol, and that's good enough for me," Rocky stated, grabbing the pitcher from Adam. As soon as he'd filled it, he set the pitcher down and raised his glass with the other. "To Jason! Supplier of the golden liquid – protector of sanity," he spoke, as solemnly as he could muster. Adam smirked and raised his glass as well, while Jason just laughed at the two of them. He clinked his glass against theirs and then proceeded to down a little less than half of his third beer.

"All I did," Jason began, as the other two followed his lead, "was suggest that we'd had a really rough day, and that it might just be easier if they supplied us with some alcohol for a while. That way the waitress could attend to the other patrons without worrying about us."

"That's all?" Rocky laughed.

"I may have had to swear not to hit the table, or anything else for that matter, again," Jason conceded, turning sideways on his stool and leaning against the wall beside them. Adam rolled his eyes a smirk on his face. "Which is ok, because what I really want to hit, isn't here."

Adam and Rocky both nodded agreement, before the former black and green ranger sighed and shook his head. "I told Kim earlier that the morphing grid was out to get us. Tommy may have reduced himself to a child, but we're the ones who have to deal with the aftermath," he spoke, following a long swig off his beer. Rocky and Jason smirked, and Rocky inclined his entire body in agreement.

"Speaking of Kim," Rocky stated, "She's in the same boat and is clearly handling this better than the three of us," he laughed.

"She's pink," Adam laughed. "Zordon knows the girls are stronger than we are half the time," he added in, waiting for the pitcher back. They were all going on their fourth beer, and moving through the alcohol rather quickly; much more quickly than was normal or appropriate. However, they all clearly felt it was justified – their significant others had been regressed to the point that even holding their hands would have been considered highly inappropriate, and anything more would have been labeled as pedophilia.

"Yeah," Rocky stated, nodding and laughing, "but still, think we should call her and invite her to join us?" he asked the other two. Adam frowned, but Jason didn't even pause to think.

"She can't," he spoke, and Adam's head snapped up at him, a slight glare on his face, alarm in his eyes. No one was supposed to know. Kim was going to be pissed if Jason didn't change his line of speech in a hurry.

"Why not?" Rocky asked. The alcohol hadn't dulled his senses far enough yet that he hadn't thought Jason's statement was slightly odd. Kimberly was a grown adult, Tommy was old enough to be left alone for a few hours. There was no reason, at least that he could see, why the former pink ranger wouldn't be able to come out and have a drink. After all, she'd been dealing with a regressed partner for several days longer than they had, and while she was doing ok holding it together, Rocky was pretty sure she'd been close to losing it a few times. Alcohol and a night with the guys might do her some good. After all, the magical amber colored substances was doing a good job of making him feel warm and fuzzy.

"Um," Jason began, his mind not operating as quickly as it normally would as the beer began to work its way through his system. "Something about her job," Jason added in, wanting to kick himself. "She hasn't started yet, and they might do a drug and alcohol test. She doesn't want to chance a positive," he added in, feeling Adam's eyes boring into him as he watched Rocky's expression, trying not to betray his own nerves. The story was weak, and he knew it, but he wasn't exactly functioning on a full tank of gas at that point.

The second red ranger blinked for a moment, as he digested the information Jason gave him. Deciding that there really was no logical reason for him to lie, Rocky nodded once and downed some of his beer. "That makes sense," Rocky stated. "So what do we do now?" he asked Jason, who fought the urge to sigh in relief.

"Only one thing we can do," he stated. "Wait for Billy," he added, at the same time as Adam and Rocky both said the same thing. All three of them laughed, as they poured their fifth beers. This situation was beyond them, and while Rocky and Adam knew Haley was quite capable, their faith and trust would always and forever be in one of their own.

"He'd better fix it quick," Adam stated, matter of factly. "I can't marry Tanya like this," he groaned, clutching his head in both of his hands, elbows resting on the table.

"At least she's legal," Jason laughed at him, and Adam smirked back in response, shaking his head. If all they had to go on was 'at least', it really didn't make the situation any better.

"At least they both want something to do with you," Rocky growled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the two rings Aisha had taken off her finger that afternoon. He held out his hand to the center of the table and turned his palm face up, showing the two gold rings to the other two who winced.

"Ouch," Adam stated, while Jason just shook his head, bringing his beer to his mouth again. "She really didn't want them?"

"She's pretty freaked out about this," Rocky stated, and his best friend could hear the dejection in his voice. "I mean, I can't say I blame her. I don't think I could fathom us being together at sixteen," he stated, shaking his head and sighing. He clasped his hands around the rings and pulled them back toward him, pulling his wallet out of his pocket with the other hand, and this time placing the rings inside one of the folds for safer keeping.

"Definitely not," Adam agreed with him. "Still," he added, unable to find the words. Rocky was right. At least Tanya was definitely ok with them being together. In fact, based on her words, she was actually pretty pleased with the idea, even at eighteen years old. Trini may have been unsure, but she didn't seem to want to distance herself from Jason. It appeared even should could sense that things were as they should be. Aisha was fighting against it. The idea of marrying and having children with Rocky really bothered her, and unfortunately, that was probably the most painful part of everything for the former red and blue ranger.

"Yeah," Rocky stated, finishing off his beer in one gulp. There really weren't any words. "I'll be alright," he added, stretching before refilling his glass. "If roles were reversed, I know I'd be the same way. Married to a girl who was like my sister? With two children? At sixteen, I definitely would not have been father material."

"Bro," Jason laughed, shaking his head. "You're not exactly father material now," he added, shaking his head. Adam cracked up laughing as well, while Rocky smirked.

"Not even going to try to argue with that," he laughed as well. "I'll be much happier when she's back to normal. Someone's got to keep me from fucking up the kids," he added.

"I can fill in in the meantime," Adam laughed, topping off his glass again.

The three rangers dissolved into laughter and mock competition over who had had it worse over the last decade. There were quiet mentions of being turned into balls, bugs, plants, and children. Remembrances of being liquefied, turned against one another, or nearly disappearing; being trapped in caves and within a multitude of dark dimensions. Eventually, the four pitchers of beer were drained, each of the guys consuming upwards of ten glasses or so of the liquid, and feeling much more relaxed and jovial than they had in several hours.

"Beer's gone," Rocky announced, with a slight slur to his words. Jason snorted a laugh, while Adam just nodded. "Want more?" Rocky added in.

"I think we've had enough," Adam stated, frowning as he looked around the bar. He blinked and rubbed his eyes with his fingers. Unfortunately that didn't fully help make the room hold still. "What now?" he asked the other two Zeo rangers, glad that they wouldn't need to drive anywhere. He knew he definitely wasn't capable of driving a vehicle, and he was probably the least intoxicated of the three, and that was saying something.

"Guess we go upstairs," Rocky stated, with a shrug of his shoulders, disappointment evident in his voice. Going back upstairs to share a room with Katie, Luke, and Adam, while Aisha was in an entirely separate hotel room was not exactly his idea of a great night. In fact, as much as he loved Adam, he would trade him for Aisha any day.

"I want to do something fun," Jason stated, shaking his head in response to Rocky's idea. Adam frowned, watching the two former red rangers, slightly concerned as to where their conversation was going. "You two know of anything fun to do around here?"

Rocky shook his head in the negatively, very enthusiastically, while Adam shrugged his shoulders. "Too busy fighting Mesogog," Rocky slurred slightly, a bit too loudly. His best friend made a shushing sound that was actually louder than the second red ranger's statement, so in essence it wasn't helping. Jason looked around nervously as the small amount of people went back to their conversations, either having not heard Rocky's mention of the dinosaur mutant bent on sending the world back to prehistoric times or believing the words were the insane ramblings of a drunk guy (which they were, but that didn't make them any less true).

"We gotta do something," Jason whined slightly, knowing their identities were safe for at least the time being. Adam shrugged again. The larger, more rational side of his brain suggested that he persuade Earth's first two red rangers to abandon all ideas of 'fun' and herd them upstairs and into bed, right after he programmed the room's coffee maker to have a pot brewed and ready when they inevitably woke up hung over in the morning and had to deal with children. However, the smaller, mutinous part of his mind that was pissed at the fact that his fiancée was in chronological age, a high school senior. He therefore was curious as to what the other two would come up with.

"I've got an idea," Rocky stated, unable to hide the amusement from his voice as he leaned his head in over the table toward Jason and Adam. Both men leaned in as well, using effort to avoid their impaired depth perception causing their heads to strike one another. Rocky placed his hands on the table in front of them, and flicked each of his wrists. Jason's mouth fell open as the former ranger's Zeonizers appeared on his bare wrists.

"You lied," Adam scoffed, "you said you didn't bring them," he added in, and Rocky smirked, flicking his wrists again, causing the devices to disappear.

"Do they work?" Jason asked, raising his eyebrow, as Rocky and Adam nodded. "Hell yeah," he laughed, reaching into his back pocket and drawing out his original morpher, gold Tyrannosaurus power coin unscratched, in place. "This is one of those times when I'm grateful we used the damn sword to transfer powers instead of giving you our power coins. Now this will be fun," he laughed. "But where?"

Rocky nodded agreement, while Adam still watched the other two, staying fairly quiet. He was just as drunk, but clearly had more reservations than the other two. There was a reason he knew red's had a death wish, and it seemed to extend well past pissing off yellows. Although, if they girls found out about it, even without being back to normal, he had a feeling they might have a few choice words at the very least. In all likelihood, there would be a physical consequence.

"My room?" Rocky offered, "It's empty."

"So we're going to morph and stay locked in a hotel room all night?" Adam asked, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. That didn't exactly sound entertaining to him. What would they do, have a drunken staring contest through their visors?

"Don't be ridiculous," Rocky stated, and Adam glared at him. He was the one being ridiculous? "We'll go out the window," the blue Zeo ranger added, and Adam gaped at him like a fish.

"Ten stories up?" Adam stated, almost to a shout. Glares from around them made him wince and pull his head down into his shoulders as he flushed slightly red.

"We'll figure it out," Jason laughed, throwing down cash on the table from his wallet and hoping off the stool, before sliding the morpher in his hands back out of sight. Adam and Rocky added their own pile of cash to the table, and then Jason slung his arm over Adam's shoulders, steering him back towards the elevators, while Rocky followed behind laughing slightly.

* * *

"You ok?"

Aisha's head snapped up at the sudden question from where she'd been appearing to study the contents of the suitcase Rocky had given her. Tanya, the girl she'd just met, but who knew her fairly well, had just stepped out of the bathroom, clad in a long yellow night shirt and a pair of black cloth shorts. Aisha sighed, and then nodded slowly.

"Are you sure?" Tanya asked the younger teenager. "We can talk about it if you want," she suggested. In her mind, they hadn't spent that much time together, just the short time it had taken Aisha to find the Zeo crystal and then trade places with Tanya. However, they'd exchanged countless letters, Aisha often helping Tanya adjust to life as a Power Ranger, or just life with Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Billy, and Kat. Tanya felt she owed it to her friend to help her adjust as much as she could to this.

"No," Aisha laughed, clutching her own pajamas that she'd found in the bag in her hand. She crossed one leg underneath herself and flopped down on her butt on the bed, shaking her head. Tanya grinned, and walked over, sitting beside her and wrapping her predecessor around the shoulder in a hug. "They've all changed so much," Aisha stated with a sigh. "Are they this grown up when you're a ranger?" she asked, looking up at Tanya.

"Girl," Tanya laughed, "No way; a couple weeks ago, Rocky tried to take on one of King Mondo's monsters all by himself because he felt he needed to prove his worth," she added, shaking her head. "Maturity, he has not gotten," she laughed.

"Mondo?" Aisha asked, laughing along with the older girl and raising an eyebrow.

"Machine King," Tanya told her, releasing the girl from a hug. "Chased off Rita and Zedd," she added in, getting a nod of understanding from Aisha. "You should relax," she continued. "I know they're different than you remember, but it's just because they've grown up. If you let your guard down, I'm sure you'll find they're still the same people you know and love," she added in.

"I guess you're right," Aisha told the older teenager.

"And you should ease up on Rocky," Tanya added, raising an eyebrow. "This isn't exactly his fault," she stated, having noticed the second yellow ranger being a little aloof and cold to her former teammate and current husband, but not knowing the real reason why.

"I guess I have been a little mean," Aisha admitted. She hadn't meant to be. He just scared her. She loved him like a brother, and finding out that one day she'd love him as more than that was a bit too much for her. "I just can't imagine being his wife, you know?"

"Aisha," Tanya laughed, "you're sixteen. You shouldn't be imagining being anyone's wife, and he knows that right now. He's not going to expect you to be any more than yourself."

"That's what he said," Aisha conceded, nodding, hearing his assurances repeated by another one of his teammates. She had a funny feeling if she asked Adam, he'd tell her the same thing. Rocky cared about her and knew at the moment she was sixteen. He knew what she was capable of and what she wasn't. And he would never pressure her. She gave Tanya a slight half smile. "I'll apologize in the morning," she added, standing back up and yawning. "But now, I think it is bed time."

"Agreed," Tanya laughed, as she stood up and walked around to the other side of the bed. Aisha headed for the bathroom to change. "I'm exhausted and sore all over. I feel like I've been stepped on by about a million cogs."

"Cogs?" Aisha asked, raising her eyebrow. She stood in the bathroom door and leaned around the wall that separated the smaller room from the one that housed the bed, dresser, TV, desk and chair.

Tanya laughed and shook her head in response. "After you apologize, you can make Rocky explain it all tomorrow. I'm too tired," she laughed, and Aisha giggled in response, disappearing into the bathroom to change.

* * *

About an hour or so after Zack had traded rooms with her, Trini had gone through most of the stuff in her suitcase and found something suitable to wear. She'd showered, removing any marks on her body that were the result of soot and ash from the chair of doom's fire, and not an actual bruise from being thrown away from the exploding machine. Dressed in a pair of yellow sweat pants and a black tank top, she crept slowly over to the door that connected the room to the one with other. She could hear the sounds of a television on very quietly, and could just make out the cheerful tones that suggested a children's show. She pushed the door open slightly and peered inside. One of the beds was still made up from the house keeping. Two toddlers slept in the other bed. One girl, and one boy. Tyler; her son – HER son. The thought still disconcerted her, but he was a smart, funny, handsome little boy. If she thought past the fact that she didn't actually have him at fifteen, she was quite pleased that he was hers. Just beyond the beds, Zack sat in the arm chair, his leg propped up on the edge of the bed, a baby in his arms, a bottle to the baby's lips. The only light was the glow of the television.

"Zack?" she asked, curious. She'd only poked her head in to say goodnight.

Earth's first black ranger looked up from the baby whose eyes had drooped as he slowly returned to dreamland. Confused for a moment in the dark, he found Trini, who had pushed the door wider and was standing in the archway. "Trini," he stated, letting a small smile form on his face. "What's up? Everything ok?" he added, concern slipping into his voice as he contemplated why she'd come in.

"Oh," she stated, clasping her hands behind her back and smiling. She nodded quickly. "Yeah, I was just saying goodnight. Where's Jason?" she asked, scanning the small hotel room. The bathroom door was open, the light off.

"He, um, went out for a bit," Zack stated, nervously. He supported the baby bottle in one hand and used the other to run across the back of his head. He didn't tell her what Jason had gone out to do. He didn't want to worry the teenager. She already had enough to deal with, though Zack wasn't at all surprised that she was handling things so calmly. She was probably keeping notes on everything so she could help Billy fix everything when he finally arrived.

Trini smirked and raised an eyebrow, folding her arms over her chest. "With Rocky and Adam?" she asked him, a bit of amusement in her voice. "They're not handling this as well as they'd like us to think, huh?"

Zack chuckled, shaking his head, as he realized that Luke had finally succumbed to sleep again. He stood up, and gently laid the baby boy in his carrier. "I forgot how observant you were, even at fifteen," Zack told her, standing up and looking her in the eyes, taking in her silent question. "He'll be alright. They all will. They just need to blow off a little steam."

"I guess it can't be easy," Trini stated with a nod. "Kim's hiding something too," she added, and Zack sighed and nodded. He sensed that as well. "Any idea what?"

"No," Zack stated, shaking his head, and giving her a small smile. "You knew," he explained. "And Aisha. Before, well, this," he stated, using his hand to gesture to her from the top of her head to the bottom of her bare feet. He knew Kim would have told the two women what was bothering her Sunday evening after she'd broken down. "She'll be ok, too," he added, sensing the concern on Trini's face. He could tell the teenager was attempting to dig up a memory of what Kim had said, despite the fact that it would be impossible. Her mind was that of a girl who didn't know what was bothering her adult best friend. "I promise," he added to her.

"Ok," Trini stated, a thin hesitant smile on her face. "Well," she added. "I guess, goodnight?" she questioned more than stated. Zack gave her a reassuring smile and nod.

"Goodnight," he stated, as Trini turned and disappeared into his hotel room, shutting the adjoining door completely. He watched her for a moment. Suddenly there knock which drew him out of his thoughts and caused him to jump. Jason had the key. And besides, the knock hadn't come from the door. It had come from the window.

Frowning and settling his nerves, Zack hesitantly went to sliding glass window. It resembled a balcony door, but there was no balcony. Just a set of metal bars that came to midway up his abdomen. He slowly, cautiously drew back the curtains, and was met with nothing. He blinked and sighed, considering the possibility that the knock had actually come from the television, as he let the curtains drop back into place, and he turned his back on the window. However, before he could take more than one step away from the window, the knock repeated, and this time he was positive it had come from outside. He turned on the ball of his foot and yanked back the heavy curtains, his mouth falling open at what he saw.

Hanging, upside down on the outside of the window was a figure in red material resembling spandex. However, he knew from experience the suit could withstand a lot more than ordinary spandex could. The figure had his arms crossed over his chest, partially obscuring the three diamond pattern that went across that portion of the figure's torso. Each arm ended in white gloves that were rimmed with the same diamond pattern, but in red. Where the individual's head should have been was a red helmet depicting a tyrannosaurus. The black visor formed the tyrannosaurus' mouth. Silver colored sharp teeth that rimmed it, and the helmet's human mouthpiece was cast in the same silver. There were two small hinges on either side. Around his waist was a white belt, with a morpher in the center, the tyrannosaurus power coin, gleaming. The figure pointed at the handle on the sliding glass door, and Zack followed his motion with his eyes, snapping himself out of his stupor.

"Jason! What the hell?" Zack hissed quietly so he didn't wake the three sleeping children inside the room as soon as he'd thrust the sliding door open. He leaned out, gripping the metal bars and looked up following Jason's legs. Hanging from ninth floor bars with one hand and clasping one of Jason's legs with the other, were two other figures dressed similarly to the first red ranger. However, one was clad in green, while the other wore blue. The shoulders and chest of each of the Zeo rangers were colored white rimmed in a gold pattern. Their hands and forearms were clad in white gloves, also rimmed with the same gold pattern. The red ranger's boots rimmed with the red diamond pattern were clutched tightly in their fingers. Their white boot rimmed in gold clad feet were pressed firmly against the concrete siding of the hotel, stabilizing themselves. Both helmets were solid colored, however, the blue ranger's visor was an inverted triangle, while the green ranger's was a horizontal rectangle.

"Hotel bar is dull; we got bored. Figured we'd let you know we were going out on the town for a bit," Jason answered, his voice light and cheerful.

"What the fuck?" Zack asked, clearly not happy. "Are you drunk?" He was struggling to believe that he was seeing three fully morphed power rangers in front of him. Even more incredibly, they were threatening to leave the hotel. He knew there was a definite chance they'd be seen.

"Yep," Jason responded, grabbing hold of the metal bars and twisting his arms as Rocky and Adam released his legs. With the muscular control afforded to him by the added power and strength of being morphed, Jason righted himself, and reached up to help Rocky down to the eight floor, before both of them stabilized and helped Adam down. "We'll see you later," Jason told Zack, and before he could blink, all three of them had moved onto the seventh story and were working their way down to the ground. Zack watched them go for a moment in complete amazement, before he shook himself out of it. Rocky and even Jason he understood. But he seriously wondered how much alcohol it had taken to get Adam to go along with them. He blinked, and shut the window, still trying not to wake the children, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone, hoping he'd remembered to save the number. Sighing slightly with relief when he found it, he hit the auto dialer and waited, knowing he needed to go after the three of them. Drunk Power Rangers loose in Reefside did not sound like a headline he wanted to read. The phone rang a few times, before a groggy voice finally answered.

"Hello?" it said.

"Connor," Zack stated, urgency in his voice. "I'm sorry if I woke you; listen, I need your help. Can you come to the hotel, room eight forty six. I don't really have time to explain," he stated, as he pulled his duffle bag onto the bed and began rummaging through it, searching for something. "Great. Thanks; just get here quick," he added, hanging up the phone and pulling it away from his ear with one hand, while drawing his morpher out of the depths of the bag. He hoped Connor hurried up.

* * *

Hehehe... told you there'd be some chaos coming up. Imagine what they can get into. Hope you enjoyed. I'll do my best to get the next few chapters going a bit faster.

Also, for those of you interested, The Order has hit over $75k so David Yost will be wearing his blue ranger suit on Hollywood Blvd. LOL. I can't wait to see it. They've almost hit $80k and there's about 2 weeks left. If they hit $100k, Karen Ashley said she'd put her yellow ranger suit back on as well, so maybe that'll happen. Hope the fans can generate the funds. I've donated a few times myself, before the dog got sick.

If you enjoyed I hope you'll take the time to review. Reviews keep me motivated.

Thanks for reading,

Fateless


	18. Chapter 18

Wow, ok. It's been three months. I so did not intend for it to be that long. Life kind of happened, and life included a busted laptop and a loss of half of chapter 18. So it all needed to be re-written, and that resulted in me putting it off because it meant starting over. Anyway, this one's not nearly as well edited as the others because well, I just finished it like ten minutes ago, and felt you'd all waited patiently long enough. I owed it to you. I promise the story won't die, I'm just trying to find the balance of work, Kung Fu and Tai Chi training, and this new thing called a social life that I have recently acquired.

For any one who wanted an update on my pup, he's doing much better. We haven't gotten the money fully raised for the surgery, but he's off meds. We're hoping that the "mass" was actually just a bad abbsess and its cleared up on its own. We're going to save up the rest of the money and do another round of x-rays to see if he really does need the surgery. If not, we're going to donate all the money raised by the go fund me to either the animal shelter or the vet office.

And it other news, I'm really truly excited because I get to go to Yama-con this year and meet JYB and hear Eyeshine play. So there's that too.

Anyway, I've rambled enough, so again, sorry about the wait, and here's chapter 18.

* * *

Although he was definitely a bit more than tipsy, Adam still wasn't a hundred percent sure he was drunk enough to be parading around downtown Reefside morphed into Zeo Ranger four. He definitely didn't feel the same confidence as Jason, walking as steadily as the alcohol coursing through his system would allow beside him, seemed to. Nor did he feel the same carefreeness as Rocky, who was doing one back handspring after another, in front of them as they moved along the sidewalk. The small part of Reefside's population that still happened to be out and about at the relatively late hour moved aside, stunned expressions on their faces, as the trio of morphed individuals passed by. Beneath his helmet, Adam muttered apologies as Rocky nearly knocked several people over, or he grimaced as he thought of what the populace's ultimate reaction would be.

"I need a drink," Rocky's voice broke through Adam's thoughts. Adam's gaze darted from where he'd been studying his feet to the blue ranger in front of him, his hidden expression incredulous. Rocky was no longer flipping through the air, but walking backwards, his gaze on both Adam and Jason.

"You've got to be kidding me? Didn't you have enough back at the hotel," Adam growled softly, while Jason chuckled slightly.

Rocky rolled his eyes with a smirk, although no one knew it due to the helmet obscuring his own face. "Not that kind of drink, Frog boy. I'm just thirsty."

"Yeah well," Jason laughed. "It was your own idea to do back flips. Aren't you dizzy?"

"I needed to let off steam," Rocky argued, shaking his head no and spinning on his toes until he was facing forward once again and slowing his pace slightly so instead of being in front of the other two rangers, he was able to walk between the two of them. He slung an arm over each of their shoulders. "Come on; please," he added.

"And just how do you plan to pay for your drink?" Adam asked him, placing both hands on his hips as he stopped moving forward, Jason beside him, his arms crossed over his chest. Plainly, he wanted an answer to that question as well. He knew Rocky would sense the questioning expression he wore. Jason laughed as Rocky didn't verbally reply. Instead the blue clad ranger bent at the waist, reached into the top of his boot and pulled out a wad of cash. "Seriously? Who does that?" Adam groaned, gesturing toward Rocky, although his head was turned in Jason's direction.

"You never know when they'll be an emergency that warrants having money. The powers can't solve everything," Rocky laughed, stressing the last word. Clearly, because if they could, they wouldn't have been dealing with five regressed rangers which was the cause of their drunken adventure in down town Reefside in the first place.

"Ok, we can stop and get drinks, but he's buying," Jason stated, holding one gloved hand to his red helmet covered face and shaking his head. There was laughter in his voice. Rocky laughed in response and led the way forward, Jason right behind him. Adam dropped his head in defeat. "But where are we going to get them?"

"There's got to be a convenience store around here somewhere," Rocky insisted, looking around, as Jason copied him. Adam was still gazing at his feet, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You need a shop Dude?" a new voice interrupted the ranger's discussion. Three individuals dressed in baggy clothing and carrying skate boards. Two were male, the third a female. They were all about Connor and the other Dino Thunder teens' age, or slightly older. The boy who'd spoken had bleach blond shoulder length hair split at a center part.

"There's one just around the corner," the girl put in, nodding in the direction they should head. Her jet black hair had streaks of bright green and purple running through it. It swung across her shoulders as she nodded. "They have excellent cookies."

"And nachos," the second boy told them, a dreamy look in his bright blue watery eyes.

"And there's just something about the Cheetos they sell there. They're better than the rest of the Cheetos in the world," the first youth told them.

All three rangers stared at the three individuals, surprise and slight confusion on their faces. While they'd passed a decent number of people, no one had yet spoken to them.

"Uh," Jason began, drawing out the word and looking over his shoulder at Adam and Rocky who both shrugged their shoulders in response to his silent question. "Thanks for the tip."

"No problem dude," the blue eyed youth replied with a nod and a slight grin, as the three rangers turned to head in the direction that the teens pointed them in, still slightly mystified. The teenagers waved them off as they went.

"Don't forget to try the Cheetos!" the girl's voice followed them as the rangers rounded the corner, a convenience store coming into sight.

"I seriously think those kids had the munchies," Rocky laughed, once they were clear of the loose clothing wearing teenagers. Adam and Jason both snickered and laughed, nodding. "I want the munchies."

"You do not," Adam retorted, grabbing Rocky by the shoulder to prevent him from turning around and following after the teenagers who'd apparently been participating in less than legal activities. "You're already drunk as fuck."

"I don't feel like it," Rocky pouted, slightly upset that his buzz was definitely not as strong as it had been while at the hotel bar.

Beside him Jason shrugged, feeling slightly the same way. "Morphing grid," he stated, dejectedly shaking his head, and contemplating Adam's idea that maybe they hadn't had enough to drink.

"Must be trying to get rid of the 'toxins' in our blood stream," Adam added with a nod of his head. He definitely still felt the rush of the alcohol, but it was far from as strong as it had been back at the hotel. Back then, he'd been pretty giddy. Now he was just sort of numb with lowered inhibitions. Laughing at the high teenagers was not exactly something he would have done on a regular basis.

By this point, the three rangers had reached the store and Adam began to follow Rocky and Jason inside. The sound of screeching tires and a crunch of metal caused Adam to glance backwards over his shoulder. On the street behind him, a red SUV had been rear ended by a blue convertible sports car. Both drivers were just beginning to climb out of their vehicles.

"You don't think…" Adam began, his voice trailing off slightly as he watched, standing in the entrance way to the convenience store so that the automatically sliding doors wouldn't close.

"People need to pay more attention when they drive," Jason interrupted his train of thought. He stood with a sports drink in each hand, looking over Adam's shoulder at the slight fender bender. "Here," he added, tossing one of the sports drinks at Adam, who caught it easily. Morphing grid powers apparently out weighted the physical effects of alcohol on the body, which had already been pretty apparent, as Rocky had not fallen on his face while doing his acrobatics down the street.

"Uh… Thanks," Adam muttered, really at that point unsure of exactly what the right thing to say. Jason nodded briskly in response. Adam let his gaze drift off Jason and onto the rest of his surroundings as he walked deeper into the store, pushing the car wreck outside out of his mind. Rocky was at the register, counting out a few bills from the cash he had stashed in his boot. However, what really threw Adam were the stares he was receiving from the other patrons in the store. Surely most of these people had seen a Power Ranger before? Or maybe it was the fact that they hadn't expected to see three of them walk into an ordinary store, purely with the objective of hydration. Still, Adam couldn't shake the feeling that they were staring at him a bit more than they were staring at Rocky and Jason. It was slightly creepy and definitely more than a bit unnerving.

"Hey Adam?" Rocky's voice called, the register. "You want anything else?" he asked his former teammate, driving the stares of the other customers out of Adam's mind. The currently green clad ranger shook his head in the negative, and Rocky turned his attention back to the clerk, who was a strange shade of pale-ish green as he counted back the change slowly into Rocky's outstretched hand. Jason had wandered off, either oblivious to the looks they were getting, or else not caring. He was standing outside the store's beer cave, on hand on his hip, the other to the mouth shield on his helmet as if he was contemplating. Adam wasn't entirely sure the red clad ranger needed anymore alcohol for a very long time. And he was beginning to think it was a really bad idea to have let Rocky convince him that alcohol was a solution to their discomfort that night. Maybe they could have just slept it off instead.

"Why do you think they're staring like that?" Adam stated, his voice barely above a whisper as he drifted over towards Jason and stood beside him. Jason turned his head over his shoulder and looked around at the rest of the patrons, before turning back to Adam and shrugging.

"Guess they're a bit surprised. When did the kids lose their powers again?" Jason replied, his voice even quieter than Adam's had been.

"Two months ago," Adam answered, frowning beneath his visor. He could feel the stares on the back of his neck. "It's creepy though."

"Two months is a pretty long time for a ranger absence. They're probably just surprised to see us," Jason insisted as he laughed quietly. Adam sighed and shrugged, shaking his head slightly. He really was beginning to get uncomfortable, the stares outweighing the warm comfortable happy feeling that the beer had bestowed on him not too long before.

"You two ready to go?" Rocky asked, coming up behind them, a third sports drink clutched in his head.

"Yes," Adam replied, with a bit too much relief in his voice. The other two laughed at him slightly. "Can we go somewhere less populated?" he asked, his eyes darting to an older woman who was plainingly staring at him, her hand on the door to one of the refrigerated cases, while her other clutched a half gallon of milk. Her mouth hung open slightly. Didn't people know it was rude to stare?

"Aww," Rocky laughed, teasing his former teammate. "Feeling shy all of a sudden?" Adam just glared at him. Although visually Zeo Ranger three couldn't see the glare, Adam knew Rocky would be able to sense the look he was giving him. Whether in uniform or not, they could always tell what their teammates were thinking or feeling, and the fact that Rocky was his best friend, just strengthened that ability. "Alright, fine. How about we head to the park?"

"Sounds good to me," Jason replied, leading the way out of the store, still pretty much ignoring the stares and the occasional whisper of one patron to another. Two college aged men were blinking rapidly as if trying to actually convince themselves of what they were seeing as the three rangers walked by "Oh," he added as they neared the doors, "keep your heads down."

"As if that's going to help," Rocky laughed sarcastically. Adam frowned and looked past both of them, his face paling at what he saw. He wasn't exactly sure how Jason expected them to keep their heads down. It was apparently too late for that. Small fender benders seemingly generated quite the stir in Reefside, as a small news crew had appeared on the screen. As the three rangers exited, the camera was turned right on them.

"We are so dead," Adam groaned, shaking his head, hand not clutching his sports drink holding the side of his helmet. "Tanya's going to kill me," he added in. He was pretty sure he wasn't even exaggerating. The three of them were definitely going to make the late night news, and possibly the morning addition as well. For the last two months, it wasn't every day that Power Rangers walked into stores to buy electrolyte infused beverages.

"You're forgetting," Rocky laughed, "she's eighteen. Doubt she'll be able to do anything to you," he added in. Adam paused and stared at him for a minute, slightly irritated that Rocky had taken it upon himself to remind him of the thing that they had been drinking in order to forget about in the first place.

"I should have let you buy me another beer," Adam finally replied, getting a slight laugh from the other two. "Maybe then I'd be drunk enough to believe this wasn't happening," he muttered. The news reporter seemed to snap out of her shock at that moment and began making her way towards them. "I really don't feel like giving an interview guys," Adam moaned.

"Me either," Rocky agreed, though his voice reflected amusement that Adam's lacked. Rocky was grinning beneath his helmet, his eyes however, darting around looking for an escape.

"Alright, on the count of three," Jason stated simply with a nod. "One," he stated, and beside him Rocky and Adam shifted their position, both becoming lighter on their feet. "Two," he added in. "Three! Run!" he practically shouted, and at once the three drunk rangers tore off pushing their way through the crowd that had started to appear and immediately were out of sight, their powers enabling them to make a quick getaway, disappearing around a corner so quickly that no one without active ranger powers would be able to follow them.

A few minutes later, all three were laughing as they tried to catch their breath, in a small isolated portion of the park, near a parking lot. Rocky leaned back against a tree, tossing his drink back and forth in his hands. Jason had both hands on his hips, palms turned out, his left hand holding a drink that matched the color of his suit perfectly, while Adam leaned forward, a few fingers clutching his own drink, while most of his hands rested on his knees.

"Oh my god, that was awesome," Jason laughed, tears in his eyes beneath his visor. Adam smirked sarcastically and shook his head.

"I really do think we have different definitions of awesome," he told his former teammates, who just laughed once loudly in response. Adam rolled his eyes and stood up, looking over his shoulder at Rocky. "Alright genius, the drinks were your idea. How do we consume them? I'm assuming you have no desire to power down?"

"Nah," Rocky laughed, pushing himself off the tree, and taking a few steps toward him. "The night's still young," he added, reaching down toward his boot again and pulling out three straws. Adam chuckled, unable to stop himself, wondering what else his best friend could possibly pull out of his boots. "You know, I wonder how much trouble it would have been for Zordon to make sure these things came with pockets," Rocky remarked, causing both Jason and Adam to laugh.

"Now you're asking too much," Jason told him, taking two of the straws from Rocky's outstretched hand and then passing one off to Adam as the blue clad ranger twisted the top off his drink and chucked it, and the straw wrapper, into a nearby trashcan. Power Rangers could be publicly intoxicated, but they didn't litter. Once the straw was in his drink, he used his free hand to gently unclip his helmet and slide the straw up past his chin. He had to bend the plastically slightly, but it worked. Jason and Adam copied him, and together the three of them fell into step along the walk way in the park.

They walked in silence, Jason and Rocky both downing their drinks at rapid paces, while Adam slowly sipped his. His logic was that if Rocky asked for another one, he could use the excuse that he still hadn't finished his to either convince them they didn't need more, or else he could stay behind while Rocky and Jason ran that particular errand. Jason finished his first and tossed it into one of the many trashcans that lined the walking and biking path they were currently on. For a while, it was just nice being there together, the three of them, former teammates, as they walked, occasionally passed by a random person out for a late night jog or bike ride. It wasn't quite midnight yet. Despite the fact that these individuals often stared as they came across the three power rangers, Adam was beginning to feel better. They were only missing one male member of their team, but otherwise, Adam could almost pretend they were all eighteen again, seniors in high school, getting ready to graduate, no cares in the world. The feel of the Zeo Power coursing through his veins helped relax him in a way that the alcohol hadn't. It reassured him, and he was reminded of Billy's role during their Zeo days. Kim was right. If anyone could fix the current catastrophe it was Billy. And if Haley was there to help, that would make it even better.

Adam's thoughts, and those of the other two rangers walking beside him, were interrupted by the sound of crashing metal. The green clad ranger looked up suddenly and cast his gaze over his shoulder, a smirk slightly appearing on his face, while beside him the red and blue clad rangers were near hysterics. While the situation wasn't truly that funny, the alcohol made it seem to be about ten times more humorous. One bike rider had stopped focusing on the twisting park path and instead spent a bit too long with his gaze lingering on the rangers. As a result, he had plowed directly into several of the parks trash cans, some of which were knocked out of the way. A few toppled onto their sides, rolling back and forth slightly. All eyes in the area were on the poor young man who now lay on the ground, speechless, while being laughed at by red, blue, and green power rangers.

"That was priceless!" Rocky laughed, shaking his head as he tossed his now empty drink bottle into one of the cans that was near him and upright. "Poor kid," he added in, when Adam and Jason nodded agreement with his first statement. "Suppose I should help him u-" Rocky stated, turning on his toes and walking backward towards the downed cyclist. The last sound of his word was cut off however when he suddenly felt the rounded side of one of the trash cans against his calves. Considering his inebriated state, and the fact that he wasn't exactly moving slowly, Rocky's body inclined backwards as the trash can rolled due to the momentum of being struck. Zeo Ranger three cartwheeled his arms in an effort to stay upright, as the trashcan rolled away and he continued moving backward at a rapid pace. Two fairly loud bangs echoed through the area. The first signaled the rolling trash can's stop against a second trash can which was still upright. The second bang accompanied the blue morphed individual landing with his rear end in the second trashcan. He was bent in to at the waist, his legs and torso sticking out of the waste receptacle.

Immediately, both Adam and Jason doubled over, their laughter preventing them from being able to stand up right. Inside their helmets, both individuals had tears in their eyes from seeing their former teammate trapped inside a waste bin in the middle of Reefside on a late Monday evening.

"Now that," Jason stated, attempting to control himself and catch his breath. He wasn't doing a very good job of it. "Was priceless," he finished. Adam, still shaking with laughter, and hugging himself around the middle as if worried that he might actually dissolve into hysterics, nodded agreement. Jason sighed, and shook his head, still chuckling slightly as his eyes fell on the poor bicycle rider who had remained on the ground. The poor individual's gaze was darting back and forth between the three rangers, clearly trying to determine if they were in fact sane. Earth's first red ranger approached the man slowly and very casually offered his hand down to help him stand, Adam behind him, approaching Rocky. "You should always keep your eyes on the road while biking," Jason mock scolded the cyclist, who nodded adamantly as he was yanked to his feet by the red ranger. The man gulped, and paled slightly once he was standing. "You alright?" Jason asked him. The man nodded, still speechless. "Alright then," Jason replied, and turned his back on the man. The moment his back was turned, he heard sounds of a bicycle being righted and the man speeding off, clearly unsure of what was going on. Jason sighed and studied the other two in front of him.

Rocky was stuck well and good inside the trashcan. Adam was standing just out of reach, laughing at him and mocking the situation. Rocky emitted a stream of words Jason was pretty sure would get Katie grounded until she graduated college if she'd repeated them. The former red ranger clutched his helmet with both hands and shook his head.

"You should always keep your eyes on the road while walking," Adam teased Rocky, knowing the blue clad ranger would have heard what Jason told the cyclist. Rocky glared at him beneath his helmet.

"Haha," he retorted, "mind getting me out of here?"

"I don't know," Adam chuckled. "I'm thinking that might be a good place for you," he added. "Wish I'd thought to bring my phone. They're going to kill us anyway. Might as well have photographic evidence of this."

"You don't think anyone will believe Rocky got himself stuck in a trashcan?" Jason asked him, one arm still holding his head, while the other rested across his chest. Adam didn't respond with words, he just began to laugh harder again.

"Keep it up Frog Boy! I know where you live," Rocky threatened. "Seriously, this is beginning to get really uncomfortable. Get me out," he whined.

"Oh, alright," Jason told him, standing up completely vertically and turning to Adam. "Grab the trash can from the bottom, I'll pull him out," Jason told the green clad individual who nodded, though he was still laughing, muttering something about dumpster diving and not doing it right.

"Put a lid on it," Rocky growled at him, as Jason grabbed both his gloved hands and yanked him free of the offending can, that Adam was holding tight onto. The green ranger stood up straight and dropped the trashcan back down, right side up. His eyes went wide as he studied Rocky for a moment. "What?" Rocky asked him.

"Lid," Adam snorted a laugh. "Can," he added still fighting back laughter. "Get it!" he stated, toppling over and rolling on his back laughing.

"Ok," Rocky stated, drawing out the word. "I thought I was the drunk one," he added.

"We're all definitely not anywhere near the realm of sobriety," Jason told him, shaking his head and placing a hand on Rocky's shoulder as they both watched Zeo Ranger four roll back and forth, his entire body shaking with laughter. "Really dude," Jason stated after a few moments of just watching in silence. "It really isn't that funny."

"It is after the day I've had," Adam retorted as his laughter did start to die out. Jason shook his head again as he and Rocky stepped closer to the green clad ranger, seized him by the arms and pulled him back to his feet.

"Well," Rocky snickered. "Can't really argue with you there," he agree, and Adam smirked. "But how about we just keep this to ourselves."

"Doubt anyone would believe me, even if I told them," Adam replied, a grin on his face as he studied his best friend, still trying to figure out how exactly Rocky had gotten himself stuck in the first place. "How about we start heading back before any more catastrophes strike?" After the biker, he was now surer than ever that it was their presence that had caused the small rear-ending incident outside of the convenience store. In addition, the cyclist, just like the people at the store, had stared at Adam the longest, as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"No way," Jason told him, shaking his head in the negative. "I'm still bored."

"Why am I not surprised," Adam muttered, getting a glare from the original ranger leader in response. Adam just sighed and shook his head. "There's not really that much to do, unless you want to try impromptu dumpster Olympics."

"I'll skip that, thanks," Jason replied with a smirk. "There's got to be something around here to do to release some of this energy," he stated, although he was talking more to himself than either of the two rangers with him. He would not admit aloud that he had been keeping his frustration pent up inside all day. He seriously blamed himself for the girls and Ethan's regression. He hadn't protested them working on the device. He hadn't tried to stop them and encourage them to wait for Billy and Haley to get here. He'd been so eager to get Tommy back to normal so that he could give his rainbow colored former teammate a piece of his mind that he hadn't thought about potential consequences. And since Tommy was still a minor, he hadn't been able to beat on him like he wanted and release all of his pent up anger.

"There's a tree up ahead," Rocky stated, and both of his former teammates turned to face him. He could feel their questioning looks behind their visors.

"Very good," Adam replied, a condescending tone in his voice, a tone that would similarly be used to explain things to a small child. He had a smirk on his face. "And that one's a bush," he added, pointing to the smaller green shrubbery.

"No dumbass," Rocky laughed in response. "I meant, that tree is huge! I bet you both I can beat you to the top of it."

"You want to climb a tree?" Adam asked him, shaking his head when Rocky rubbed his palms together and laughed eagerly. "Drunk? Dude, you tripped over your own two feet."

"I'm game," Jason stated, ignoring Adam's opposition. The green clad ranger turned to look at him, his mouth hanging open slightly within his helmet. Jason just shrugged in response.

"Come on, you chicken?" Rocky teased his best friend who just laughed cynically and shook his head.

"I'm a frog," Adam retorted simply. "And definitely not a tree frog," he added, "but you two have fun. I'll wait over here. Someone needs to be ready when one of you inevitably needs an ambulance," he put in, turning his back on the blue and red rangers and waving at them over his head as he made his way to a nearby bench. He needed to get away before they could attempt to convince him that climbing a tree, which had to be at least five stories tall, while intoxicated was a good idea. They'd already convinced him to morph and scale down the side of a building. There had been a few near misses during that part if he was honest with himself.

As he sat down on the bench, he looked up to watch both the red and blue rangers taking a push off stance to make a dash towards the tree. Suddenly Jason was pelting towards the tree, clearly before Rocky was ready. The blue ranger was shouting angry words at the red ranger as he raced to catch up. Adam sighed and shook his head, laughing slightly under his breath, as he brought his half-empty sports drink back up to his lips and began to sip from the drink, just as the two morphed rangers reached the lowest limbs of the tree and began to pull themselves up, disappearing into the greenery. They were immediately out of sight. Adam perched both of his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward and clasped his drink between both of his hands. He began to suck steadily on the straw.

"There you are!" a voice called out to him, causing Adam to turn and look over his shoulder. "Where the hell have you been?" A black clad ranger, nearly identical to Jason's current morph was approaching him. The suit was black where Jason's was red, and the helmet resembled a mastodon. Adam's eyes lingered on the suit. After all, it had been his at one point as well. He missed it. But one near death experience had truly been enough for him.

Adam didn't answer. Instead he continued to suck on his straw, fixing Zack with his stare through his visor. "Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?" Zack asked, his voice betraying his irritation, as he stepped in front of Adam, cutting off the green clad ranger's view of the tree.

"About an hour, hour and a half," Adam replied, nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders as he finished the last few drops of his sports drink and tossed it in the trashcan beside the bench. Zack stared at him for several moments in silence. Behind his visor he blinked rapidly a few times, trying to come up with a response.

"That was a rhetorical question! You weren't supposed to answer it," Zack stated, shaking his head in disbelief at the green clad ranger, who just shrugged his shoulder again.

"You asked," Adam snorted a laugh, standing up and stretching his arms above his head. He peered over Zack's head at the tree whose upper limbs were beginning to rustle. He could have sworn he saw a branch fall to the ground. "Why are you here anyway? Who's watching the kids?" Adam questioned Zack, who stared at him again in shock.

Zack seriously couldn't believe the stupidity coming out of Adam's mouth. Earth's second black ranger was supposed to be one of the saner ones. Zack was pretty sure that at the moment, that wasn't true. "Does it matter?" Zack replied, not wanting to say the name of the teenager currently babysitting in case anyone was listening. The kids may have been powerless, but he was pretty sure they still didn't want their identities known. "But seriously! You got drunk, morphed, scaled down eight stories on the side of a building and have been roaming around Reefside as Zeo Ranger one," he growled, hands on his hips. He didn't have the patience for this.

"That's Zeo Ranger four," Adam stressed, slightly offended, considering Kat was Zeo Ranger one. He knew he would not have looked good in pink or a skirt (again). "And actually, it was ten stories. Besides, you morphed," he retorted, a smirk in his voice.

"What was I supposed to do? Walk up to a Power Ranger as a civilian and start a casual conversation?" Zack asked, his voice conveying the message that he seriously thought Adam might be brain damaged. "That would have gone over really well."

"The pot heads did," Adam responded simply, and Zack began to make strange squeaking sounds as if he really couldn't find the words to reply to the green Zeo ranger. Instead he threw his hands up and paced in a circle, trying to calm his frustration while at the same time trying to figure out where Adam, Rocky, and Jason would have come in contact with pot heads. "They were pretty baked. Kept mentioning Cheetos," Adam continued, clearly oblivious to Zack's irritation.

The black ranger sighed and shook his head, placing his right hand on his hip and clutching his helmet in his left hand as he shook his head. "Where are the other two idiots, by the way?"

"I resent being called an idiot," Adam retorted, snickering slightly. He'd agree that his decisions that evening had not been his brightest, he just really couldn't bring himself to care all that much. Still, he pointed at the tree behind Zack, who spun on his feet just in time to watch the blue and red helmet covered heads of Rocky and Jason pop out of the topmost layer of foliage of the massive tree, the red helmet slightly before the blue.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Zack stated, as the two rangers disappeared back into the tree. "What the hell are they doing?" Behind him, Adam studied the tree whose top branches were swaying with movement. A few leaves fluttered down. The green clad ranger was silent. "Seriously?" Zack stated, turning to glance over at his successor quickly. "That one isn't rhetorical!"

"Oh," Adam stated, shaking his head. "They were bored. Decided to race to see who could climb to the top of the tree first. My money's on the ape, but you know, then again, he might not be as experienced, so maybe that's not as great a bet after all. I'll be right back," he rambled, taking a few steps away from Zack, who immediately caught the end of Adam's statement and glaring, turned his visored gaze onto Zeo Ranger four.

"Just where the hell do you think you're going?" he asked, grabbing Adam by the shoulder and not letting him wander off.

Adam glared in response and attempted to shake Zack's grip off, but the black ranger simply applied morphing grid enabled strength and held on. He had just found them. There was no way he was letting any of them out of his sight again. Adam sighed loudly and shook his head. "I have to pee," he growled.

"Tough," Zack stated, steering Adam toward the tree. The green clad ranger reluctantly complied. "How exactly were you going to pull that off anyway? The suit doesn't exactly have a fly, you know." The bottom of the tree was rustling a bit more than the top by that point, indicating Jason and Rocky were nearing the bottom branches.

"I can power down," his friend replied, rolling his eyes beneath his helmet.

"In public? While drunk?" Zack's voice betrayed his disbelief that his friend would be so foolish. Part of him wanted to beat the crap out of the three of them for putting him through this. Another part of him wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of all of it. While another part wished he was drunk too and taking part. "Not happening buddy. You're staying right here," he added, just as Rocky leapt down from the lowest branches of the tree.

"That was epic!" Rocky laughed, spotting Adam and Zack waiting at the bottom. "You should have come!," he added specifically to Adam before focusing on the original black ranger. "When did you get here?"

Zack opened his mouth to reply to the blue clad ranger; something sarcastic lingering on his tongue as he glared at Rocky, his eyes narrowed. However, before he could say anything, Jason's voice interrupted him.

"Geronimo!" the original red ranger called out, leaping down from the final branches. At his shout, both Adam and Zack had instinctively moved back. Rocky, unfortunately hadn't the forethought to actually get out of the way, and he was struck with the solid weight of the fully morphed red ranger. Not expecting the collision, Rocky lost his footing, slipped and hit his head on the ground, slipping unconscious within second. "Shit!" Jason shouted, jumping up.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Zack yelled at him as he dashed forward to the downed ranger, who was clearly still breathing. Apparently, while he might not have felt incredibly drunk anymore, Rocky's body had already been close enough to passing out that all it took to get him there was being knocked off his feet by Jason's stockier build.

"It's not like I did it on purpose," Jason retorted, rubbing the back of his helmet and blushing, though none of them could see his face. "He'll live," he added, with a laugh.

Zack glared at him and then turned his attention back onto Rocky, shaking the blue clad ranger lightly, hoping to rouse him. He wasn't having very much luck. It really seemed like the blue clad ranger was down for the count and might be for quite a while. "You are aware no one can get him to power down right? Only he can do that. So until he comes to, we're stuck with an unconscious power ranger?"

Adam rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, before turning his head so he was addressing Jason. "He's being a buzz kill," he informed the original red ranger. "Wouldn't even let me go to the toilet."

"Harsh," Jason retorted, shaking his head. There was clear amusement in his voice, while Adam's showed irritation, and Zack's clearly demonstrated how exasperated he was. Adam and Jason were silent for a few moments; the only sounds were Zack attempting to wake Rocky up, and Zeo Ranger three's steady breathing. Zack almost wondered if he was staying unconscious on purpose, just to irritate him even more. "I've got an idea," Jason suddenly stated, before he stooped down and slung Rocky's body across his shoulders.

Zack's eyes went wide as he held his helmet in both of his palms and shook his head. He really did not need this. When did he, life of the party, suddenly become the voice of reason? For a brief moment he considered that it had happened because he'd grown up. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that the real reason was that most of the normal voices of reason for the group had been reduced to high schoolers, which was mainly Tommy's fault. So, in reality, the fact that he was dealing with two conscious intoxicated power rangers, and one unconscious one, was all the fault of the original green ranger. "Now what?" he mumbled, pushing himself to his feet and following after Jason and Adam, who were clearly headed out of the park. "Can't we just go back to the hotel?"

"You said it yourself," Jason replied, "we can't get him to power down. Can't go back to the hotel until none of us are powered up. A power ranger just can't walk into a room. You know those places have cameras in the hall."

"Not to mention on the side of the building," Adam snorted. "Good thing the hotel's were on the third floor and not the roof, or they would have seen what window we came out of. Living here or not, I don't want anyone knowing who I am."

Zack rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored his successor. This was not exactly how he envisioned the ending to the day was going to go. At this point, it was approaching midnight, although it could possibly be later. He hadn't thought to check the time, but had swiftly handed the babysitting reigns over to Connor, left the hotel and found a secluded place a good distance from the hotel to morph. "How were you planning to get back in the hotel in the first place? There'd be no record of you leaving!"

"Same way we got out," Adam replied, before shifting his attention back onto Jason. "Does your idea involve a toilet? I wasn't kidding about needing to pee."

"You know," Jason laughed, "I do believe it might." He began to lead Adam towards the exit of the park, leaving Zack behind, blinking several times as his sober mind attempted to keep up with what was happening. One ranger he could stop, but two, one carrying an unconscious body was asking a lot. He sighed, hung his head and let his arms dangle listlessly in front of him before he trudged after the two drunk rangers, muttering the word "idiots" under his breath. Jason just laughed, slightly manically in response, as they reached the street.

A police officer was standing on the corner, a bottle of water in his hand, raised to take a drink. When the officer spotted the four rangers, his eyes went wide, shifting from Adam walking casually toward him, to Jason supporting Rocky, who'd he'd shifted so Zeo Ranger three was dangling down his back (all the officer could see were his legs), to Zack reluctantly following along. He spit out the mouthful of water, soaking the sidewalk in front of him.

"Hey," Jason spoke up, "You guys have any stores around here open late?" he asked, as if he wasn't holding a prone figure over his shoulder. The officer lowered his water bottle, and nodded slowly, clearly unnerved by the fact that he was being addressed directly.

"Um… yeah," he mumbled, shifting his gaze off the rangers and ahead of him. He nodded his head in the direction ahead of them. "There's an um… Walmart, not two blocks from here. Open, uh… twenty four hours."

Jason gave the officer a curt nod, before setting off in that direction, while Zack frowned, trying to understand what Jason was planning. He couldn't understand how a twenty for hour large box store was going to help them get back to the hotel. Lost in annoyance and thought, Zack slumped after Jason, leaving Adam to give the officer a quick thank you. Instead of responding, the officer's eyes just went wider as he nodded, slightly freaked out. Adam shrugged it off and raced after the other three rangers.

It didn't take them long to find the Walmart, and Jason continued to take the lead, marching inside, not at all bothered by the looks the late night shoppers were giving them. It might have been true that all sorts of oddities could be observed at Walmart late at night, but nothing seemed to compare to four power rangers. Let alone, one who was clearly no coherent.

For a brief moment, Jason hesitated, looking around, once they'd entered the store. Zack still hadn't taken his glare off the original ranger leader's back, and was now, in fact, glaring harder. If the powers had granted him laser vision, he was sure he would have bored a flaming and smoking hole through Jason's head. "Right," Jason's voice broke through his thoughts of murdering his former leader. "This way," he stated, although Zack wasn't sure who exactly Jason was talking to. The red clad ranger led the way over to the rest rooms. The women and men's rooms formed short hallways that then turned one hundred and eighty degrees to shield the actual rest rooms and activities within them from view. However, there were no actual doors on the lavatories. In between them was a grey door, marked with a placard depicting stick figures of a man and woman, each holding the hands of a stick figure child. The family rest room. Jason knocked, and when no answer came, he grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, gesturing Zack and Adam inside.

"No way," Zack growled, not completely sure what was going through his friend's mind. He was beginning to think Jason was well on his way to becoming his ex-friend. Couldn't they have just gotten drunk and sent text messages like normal people.

"Suit yourself," Adam responded, shrugging his shoulders and grabbing the door for Jason, who disappeared inside with Rocky. Adam followed him in, letting the door swing shut behind him. Zack heard the door latch turn as one of the two conscious rangers must have locked it.

He stared at the locked door for a few moments, his mouth hanging open inside his helmet. "Damn it!" he cursed, quite loudly, getting the attention of the few people who hadn't yet noticed the arrival of the four power rangers. He gave a nervous laugh as he felt all eyes drilling into him as he stood outside the locked family rest room in Walmart in Reefside in the middle of the night that contained three drunk power rangers. Zack ran his hand over the back of his helmet and sighed, leaning close to the door and tapping it lightly. "Let me in," he called, just loud enough for Jason and Adam to hear him. Zack heard a click, and knew the door had been unlocked. He immediately grabbed the handled, jerked the door open slightly, and disappeared inside, desperately trying not to picture how the current scenario must have looked to the employees and late night Walmart patrons.

Inside, Rocky's body was laying prone on the cold tiled floor of the bathroom. Zack's face contorted into slight disgust as he thought about how Rocky would have reacted if he'd actually known what was happening. Granted, the fact that he was morphed was probably shielding him from the possibility of contracting any diseases from the store's public restroom. On the other side of the tiny bathroom (while normally a decent size, if definitely felt cramped due to the presence of four grown men occupying it), Adam had powered down and was using the toilet for its intended purpose. Jason, still fully morphed had his back to the former black ranger and was studying Rocky. "Geez! You couldn't hold it to you were alone?"

"I told you I had to pee," Adam retorted simply, as he finished, and zipped up his fly. He flushed the toilet, and Zack's thoughts instantly went to whether or not the walls were sound proof. It was bad enough that the people were aware that there were four rangers in the bathroom. He didn't want them getting any really weird ideas as to what was actually going on. Adam stepped over Rocky's body and went to the sink to wash his hand. "So, what's the plan?" the only powered down individual asked Jason, ignoring the evil look he knew Zack was giving him.

"He'll stay here," Jason informed them, nodding towards Zack, as he bent down and removed the roll of cash from inside Rocky's boot. He was the one unconscious; he should have to pay. "We'll go find something to wake sleeping beauty." Adam nodded, and twisted his wrists, instantly going through his morphing sequence, knowing that he'd be leaving the rest room.

"And then we can be finished with this madness and go back to the hotel?" Zack asked, his tone clearly indicating that he was pleading. Jason studied him for a moment, crossing his arms over his chest, before shrugging. Zack's head fell as his shoulders slumped, before Jason and Adam stepped around him and out of the restroom. They didn't stick around to hear if Zack locked the door behind him, but they was pretty confident that he had.

Jason nodded briefly to Adam and the two rangers split apart, each heading in opposite directions. Neither was ready to head back to the hotel any time soon, so they figured that leaving Zack locked up in a Walmart lavatory with an unconscious Rocky was fitting punishment for trying to make them.

Adam had been roaming the aisles on his own for a good twenty minutes when he suddenly felt something hit the back of his leg. Thinking someone had run into him with a cart, Adam attempted to twist on the balls of his foot to address the individual. Strangely, the weight that he'd thought was a cart, moved with his leg, shifting. Adam frowned, and peered down at his legs, finding a small blonde girl with pigtails wearing nothing but a saturated cloth diaper and a white stained t-shirt. She looked no older than Katie was, if that. He blinked, surprised.

"Fwend," the small child squeaked up at him, a grin on her face, ice blue eyes shining. "Up?" she asked.

"Um…" Adam grimaced, studied the heavy diaper that sagged between her legs. "How about I just hold your hand?"

"Up!" the small girl insisted, and Adam instantly knew what the small pout that appeared on her face meant. He'd seen it enough on Rocky's daughter's face to be quite terrified of the outcome. Sighing, he stooped and picked up the girl, trying to ignore the disgusting squish of the wet diaper against his hip. "Geen Fwend!" She snuggled against him, placing both hands and her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, uh huh," Adam stated, rolling his eyes. Of course he would be the ranger to attract a small child. Why couldn't it have been one of the ones who actually had kids? "Where are your parents?" he asked, and the little girl just stared at him, a wide smile on her face now that she was up in his arms. "Your mommy and daddy?" he asked again.

"Geen Fwend," was the only response he got, which resulted in an exasperated sighed from the green clad ranger. He was no longer interested in roaming Walmart and wanted nothing more than to make it back to the lavatory where they'd left Zack and Rocky. He was pretty certain that he'd willingly go back to the hotel at that point. Anything to avoid the sensation of wet diaper against his side. Since he obviously wasn't going to get a coherent answer out of the toddler, Adam set off towards customer service, hoping that the late night employees would be better equipped at reuniting lost children with their parents.

He'd gone about two aisles when the child's face changed from a bright grin to a deep frown. She appeared to be upset and she squirmed slightly, reinforcing the wet feeling on his side. "What's wrong?" Adam asked her, although he wasn't entirely sure she understood. Her limited conversational skills made him realize how smart Katie actually was.

"Ugh," the toddler grunted, shaking her head, and causing Adam to frown, confused, behind his visor. He'd seen the look on her face before. Just like the pout, it had once been common to spot on Katie's face. However, it had been a while since he'd seen it. Realization dawned on him a moment too late, as he felt pressure and warmth against his hip. He fought the urge to vomit, reminding himself he was stuck in morph and definitely could not remove his helmet. "Poopy!" the little girl triumphantly exclaimed, as she continued to fill her already quite full diaper.

"Of course," was the power ranger's grumbled reply, as he gagged slightly, the smell reaching his nostrils. He was wishing that his helmet could somehow block out scent while remaining ventilated so he could breath. He shifted the child so that he was holding her out at an extended arm's reach, each of his hands under one of her arm pits. She squirmed and giggled slightly, as Adam quickened his pace, doing his best to avoid his gaze landing on the back of her diaper. He could see bits of soft stool escaping the leg holes of her diaper. Clearly the little girl hadn't been changed in a while. As a result, the only place that Adam could look was the tiny girl's face, and as soon as he did, his heart sank. Now that she was no longer being held, he could definitely see how uncomfortable she was. He sighed, and diverted his course. He was, or at least had been, a power ranger. That meant protecting people. Tiny or not, the girl was a person, and it looked like he'd need to protect her from diaper rash.

It only took him a moment to find the baby section, and he got lucky when he spotted an abandoned cart. He placed the little girl on her feet in the back of the cart, and immediately proceeded down the aisle displaying wipes. He grabbed the smallest package he could find off the shelf, and then turned the corner onto the diapers. Studying the self, and trying to ignore the whimpering from the little girl, Adam estimated her weight and grabbed a small package of the disposable potty pants. Finally, he turned one more aisle and grabbed a small tube of diaper rash cream off the shelf, before moving to a somewhat isolated corner.

Adam reached into the cart and gathered all the supplies, placing them on the floor. The little girl whimpered again as he lifted her out of the cart, fighting another gag. He was really regretting this venture, but once a ranger kept repeating inside his head. He couldn't leave her to suffer. He immediately stood the girl up, and knelt down in front of her. "I know," he told her gently. "It doesn't feel good does it?" he asked, taking her by the hand and leading her in front of him. She knelt down as well and sat on the floor with a slightly sickening squelch. He grimaced again, knowing what was waiting for him. The little girl apparently did too, as she gently released his hand and laid backwards. "It'll be over soon," he told her, although he was also trying to encourage himself. He laid one new clean diaper beneath her to act as a changing pad.

As swiftly as he could, Adam executed the diaper change as quickly as he possibly could, gagging several times as the small girl giggled once she found herself free of sitting in her own filth. She clapped her hands delighted, as Adam looked from the balled up used cloth diaper he held in his hand to her smiling face. "You are quite gross, you know that?" he asked the girl. She just giggled some more, as he set the soiled diaper aside, and slid a clean one underneath her bottom, placing the wipes he'd used to clean her skin of any stale urine and feces, into the second diaper beneath her. He winced slightly at how red her skin was, and as gently as possibly applied the diaper rash cream he'd grabbed. He tossed the package of wipes, the clean diapers, and the tube of rash cream back in the cart beside him, before he taped up the clean diaper, and then pulled the toddler to her feet. "All better?" he asked her.

"Geen Fwend!" the child insisted, grabbing him around the neck and hugging tightly, just as they both heard a young teenagers voice calling "Lucy!" Adam frowned, and stood up, taking hold of the small child's hand, as two young girls no older than fifteen or sixteen turned the corner. One of them had the same blond hair and blue eyes as the toddler.

"Lucy!" the blonde teenager exclaimed, stepping toward the child, her eyes spotting the little girl first before she noticed Lucy's companion. Her friend stayed back slightly, chewing her bubble gum noisily, and stopping mid blowing of a bubble as her dark brown eyes fell on the green clad ranger who clutched Lucy's hand. The teenager who appeared to be related to the toddler looked from the small girl's grin to the helmet covered face of Zeo Ranger four. Adam knew the stance he took did not make him look friendly. Instinct told him he had come face to face with those responsible for what he'd just had to endure.

"She yours?" Adam asked the blonde teenager, who gulped. The girl behind her took a step backwards, while Lucy giggled, tugging on Adam's arm slightly.

"M-my sis-ster," the blonde teenager mumbled. "Babysitting while mom's at work," the teen added into her confession.

"You need to change her more often," Adam commanded, his voice suggesting he was not amused. "And clearly keep an eye on her. It's late. She should be home in bed."

"Y-yeah, yes sir," the teenager muttered, casting her embarrassed gaze down at her feet. Adam smirked, glad he had intimidated her. He turned and picked Lucy up off the floor, trying to ignore the slight pain he got as she slapped both sides of his helmet with her hands, and deposited her in the shopping cart. He then picked up the dirty piece of cloth by the ties, and held it out to the teenager. The blonde girl hesitated for a moment before reluctantly taking it from him.

"I believe these are all yours now," he told the girl, before walking past her, away from the three of them.

"Bye bye Geen Fwend," Lucy called after him. Adam turned his head and waved quickly at the small girl, before setting his sights and walking as fast as possible back towards the bathroom before anything else horrifying could happen to him. He practically ran over Jason who was in one of the checkout lines, receiving change from a cashier who clearly looked freaked out by the fact that there was a power ranger in the store buying something.

"What happened?" Jason asked him, taking his receipt and his bag. It looked rather light, and Adam wasn't completely sure what it was.

"I really don't want to talk about it," the green clad ranger replied, trying not to meet the eyes of the cashier who was now staring at him, a shocked expression on her face. He was still pretty sure that while the sight of the other rangers surprised the residence of Reefside, there was something seriously off about how they looked at him. "I think I'm ready to head back to the hotel now. You found something to wake him up?"

"Yep," Jason replied, although his gaze wasn't on Adam. Instead he'd spotted something near the automatic doors. "Aww, yes. This just got a whole lot better," he stated, turning his palm over and immediately counting the coins enclosed in it, while walking towards the doors. Intrigued, Adam followed him over to a machine with coin inserts. For fifty cents they could buy a neon glow sticker, a sparkly sticker, temporary tattoos that showed various tribal style designs, or another set of temporary tattoos, all of which features butterflies, hearts, or flowers.

"Oh, you're evil," Adam told Jason, grinning behind his helmet as Jason stuck two quarters into the last two slots and pressed the metal slider into the machine. They heard the sound of the two quarters being deposited inside, before they retracted the metal slide, a grey piece of card board sliding out of the thin slot above it. "What'd we get?" Adam asked, peering over Jason's shoulder, both rangers resembling giddy school girls as they checked the outcome of their prize. Jason smirked and opened the cardboard folder, revealing three small tattoos. Two pink daisy like flowers with yellow centers, approximately the size of nickels sat on either side of a pink and purple butterfly that was the size of a quarter. "Oh man, that's perfect."

"Agreed," Jason replied, shutting the folder and leading the way back to the family rest room, where he paused and tapped on the door. Zack didn't even bother asking who it was. He just yanked open the door, and the other two rangers could instantly tell he was glaring at them.

"I've had to deal with several individuals trying to get in here to pee! What took you so long?" Zack growled.

"Took a bit to find what I was looking for," Jason told him, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You really don't want to know," Adam added, with a shudder. "Take off his helmet, will you," he added to his predecessor, as he stepped over Rocky and went to the toilet paper dispenser and tore off several sheets. He then went back to the sink and wet them.

"Um…. Ok," Zack stated, drawing out the syllabus of the last word as he did what Adam asked. Jason smirked and knelt down beside Rocky whose face was exposed. He set the bag off to the side and then unfolded the white card board again. He then proceeded to peel off the protective backing, as Zack realized what his friend was doing. For a moment, his mouth fell open and he blinked. Adam passed Jason the wet toilet paper, just as Jason laid the temporary floral and butterfly tattoo against Rocky's forehead, and applied the moisture. "Yeah," Zack laughed, shaking his head. "This one I'll allow because it's just too damn funny," he stated, clutching his head with his hand. Adam and Jason laughed and nodded, as the original red ranger applied slight pressure to his successor's head. About two minutes later, he removed the wet paper and peeled off the tattoo paper, leaving Zeo Ranger three with two flowers and a butterfly adorning his forehead. "Remind me to get a picture later."

"Will do," Jason assured him, reaching into the shopping bag and pulling out a small white box with green accents. In big black letters it read 'Ammonia Inhalant Ampoules'. "Slide him out a bit, or he's going to hit his head on the bottom of the sink when he comes to," he commanded the other two. "Then we'll be right back where we started."

Adam and Zack did what Jason asked, as Jason removed a small packet from inside the box and tore it open. "Wow that's strong," Adam commented, crinkling up his nose at the stench. While it was bad, it was actually quite sad that it wasn't even the worst thing he'd smelt all night. He almost wondered if they could have saved Rocky the money and just used Lucy's diaper. Jason smirked in response and held the small packet directly beneath Rocky's nose.

Almost instantly, Rocky jerked his head to the side, having inhaled the ammonia from the smelling salt. He bolted up right, batting away the offending source, his face twisting into an expression of extreme disgust. "What the hell was that for?" he cursed, blinking his eyes open as Jason wrapped the open smelling salt package in another piece of toilet paper and tossed it into the lavatory trash can.

"You got knocked unconscious. We had to wake you up somehow," Adam told him, moving from a kneeling position to a standing one. Zack was already standing, leaning against the sink.

"My head hurts," Rocky muttered, rubbing his temples, and blinking. He was still seated on the floor, his legs in front of him, knees up towards his chest. Adam offered a hand down, and Rocky took it, as Adam leveraged him to his feet. Jason picked up the blue clad ranger's helmet and stood up, handing it back to him once Rocky was steady. "Where the hell are we, anyway?"

"Walmart bathroom," Jason informed him. "Ready to head back to the hotel?"

"Definitely," Rocked stated, unclipping his helmet and placing it over his head. "Which one of you knocked me out anyway?"

"Guilty," Jason laughed, as he unlocked the bathroom door once more and led the other three out.

Zack brought up the rear, desperate to ensure that none of them took a detour and extended their drunken night out any longer. Luckily for him, they all behaved, and about a block from the hotel he split off from them, making them promise they would meet him back in Jason's room. Zack found an isolated alleyway and powered down, slipping out the other side as a civilian, before walking back in the main entrance to the hotel at slightly after one in the morning. He reached the hotel room only a couple minutes later, sliding his key into the reader on the door and opening it. The room was dark, but he could make out Connor by the light of the computer in the teenagers lap.

"You find them?" Connor asked, quietly. Zack nodded, sitting down on the empty bed in the room and taking off his shoes. "They're back?"

"Should be on their way here now," Zack told him, and Connor nodded once, closing Jason's laptop and standing up. He stretched his hands out over his head. "Kids good?"

"Didn't even wake up," the former dino thunder red ranger told him. "Girls are going to kill them," Connor remarked.

"If they find out," Zack stated, clear exasperation in his voice as he thought back to what he'd heard. He glanced up at Connor's face, sensing the look the teenager was giving him. "Ok, yeah, when they find out. Reunion might be a funeral after all," he added, with a quiet laugh, just as they heard a gentle knock on the door.

Zack went back to the door and opened it, admitting the three still somewhat tipsy rangers, although they were no longer in morph. He raised an eyebrow at them, as Jason led them into the room. "Don't even say it," Jason told Zack, who just smirked and shook his head. "Thanks for watching the kids, Connor," he added, spotting the teenager who was grabbing his wallet and car keys off the dresser. He replaced Connor's belongings with the contents of his own pockets which also included his tyrannosaurus morpher. Zack gave him a look that insisted he put it in a safer place, and Jason sighed, grabbing it and tossing it into the suitcase. Zack rolled his eyes.

"No problem," Connor replied, "You three have fun?" he asked with an amused grin on his face.

"Maybe a little too much fun," Adam told him, as he bent down to pick up the baby carrier that held the sound asleep Luke. Rocky was at the bed, scooping Katie into his arms. The toddler stirred slightly as he shifted her, but she didn't open her eyes as she stuck her thumb in her mouth and laid her head on his shoulder. Jason sat down on the foot of the bed and removed his own shoes as Adam, Rocky, and Connor bade Jason and Zack a good night. Connor followed Adam and Rocky down the hall towards the elevator, and pushed the down button, just as Adam pushed the up, before turning to look at Rocky. Instantly, his facial expression shifted into a very confused frown.

"Um, Rocky," he began, but caught sight of the smirk on Adam's face and the fact that the former black and green ranger was shaking his head every so slightly no. He didn't want Connor to tell Rocky anything. Connor, fighting slight laughter, shook his head. "Katie's drooling on your shoulder," he stated, when Rocky answered him with a questioning look.

"Of course she is," Rocky sighed, exhaustion seeping into his voice as he rolled his eyes, and the elevator doors going up opened. "Thanks again," he told Connor before slipping into the elevator, a grinning Adam right behind him.

"Like I said," Connor laughed, "Not a problem at all," he added, with a small wave as the first elevator closed and a second one going down opened up. "The guys are not going to believe this shit," he laughed louder now that he was alone. Apparently Rocky had no idea he had butterflies and flowers on his forehead. Connor pulled out his phone and began sending a group text to Trent and Kira.

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed. It may be a while on Chapter 19 as I haven't even started it yet. But I have an outline. Lots more chaos and fun to come. Possibly the exploding mind of a particular green wearing teenager. And the girls are most certainly not going to be happy when they find out about the little adventure the boys took.

Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you'll take a moment to review. Let me know what you think.

Fateless


	19. Chapter 19

Ok, so oops... 3 months again. This past semester was a rough one for me in terms of keeping up with everything I had to do. But I am not abandoning this story. I'm on break for roughly another 2 weeks, so hopefully I can get at least one more chapter or even two up for you. I've got several plot points outlined with a few twists and turns prepared. So the next few chapters should be fairly easy writing. Anyway, I just finished this chapter about 5 minutes ago, and I didn't edit or proof read as much as I would have liked, but you've waited long enough. So consider this a late Christmas/Early New Years gift. Oh, and you can thank the fact that I got to meet Johnny Yong Bosh at the beginning of December as motivation to finish the chapter. Hearing Eyeshine play live was incredible!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

From inside the bathroom, over the sound of the sink faucet running, Kimberly heard her cell phone ring and buzz gently as it vibrated against the side table on her side of the king-sized bed she had been occupying alone for the last few nights. Still feeling slightly nauseous, she splashed cold water on her face, and turned the water off, before re-entering her bedroom to answer the phone. She clutched her stomach as her little jelly bean threatened to once again bring up the meal she'd consumed the night before. Thus far, she'd managed to be quiet enough that Tommy, sleeping in the guest room, hadn't heard her.

"Hello?" she asked, not even looking at the caller ID, as the cell phone had rung for several moments at that point and was in danger of rolling over to her voice mail. Her voice sounded a bit shaky, considering she'd spent the last fifteen minutes or so with her head draped over a toilet bowl.

"Hey Kim," Kira's cheerful voice replied. "Everything ok?" the teenager asked her. Kim smiled slightly, although she caught a glimpse of her slightly green face and tussled hair in her bedroom mirror, before her eyes fell on the digital clock displaying a time of nine in the morning. "You sound sick," the teenager added, as Kim made a disgruntled face at her reflection.

"I'm good," Kim lied, sort of. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and push memories of retching into the porcelain basin out of her mind, as she sat down on the foot of her bed, free arm crossed over her chest. "What's up? A bit early for a social call."

Kira laughed in response, and Kim could picture the teenager grinning. "Just wondering if there were any major plans for the day?" she asked the older former ranger.

Kim paused for a moment thinking back over the schedule she, Aisha, and Tanya had worked out. There were a few things they'd all wanted to do over the reunion, so they'd made sure that those were accommodated. Tuesday, however, was a down day. To be spent at either the park or the beach, potentially. Nothing pressing. And now that, of those originally involved in the reunion, there were only three adults left, there was even less of a necessity to stick to that plan. "Not really," she told Kira, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Why?"

"Good," Kira replied. "How about we take the teens off your hands. You, Adam, Rocky, and Jason should have some time to process everything, you know, without the problem staring you in the face," the former yellow ranger explained to the former pink one. Kim could hear the smile in the teenager's voice and instantly wanted to jump through the phone and hug the girl. She dropped her arm and jumped up, renewed energy in her body.

"Are you sure?" Kim asked, relief and gratitude in her voice. She knew she needed some time away from any regressed individuals to collect her thoughts. Even though Tommy was the only one in the house, she still wasn't comfortable letting her emotions show. She didn't want to freak him out any more than he already was. Kimberly shifted the cell phone into her hand and hit the speaker phone option so she could start getting ready for the day while still talking to the recent high school graduate. She approached her dresser and grabbed her hairbrush, running it through her hair, straightening what she felt was a complete rats nest of tangles.

"Absolutely," was Kira's response. "Trent's working for most of the day at Cyberspace," she began to explain. "So Connor and I were going to take Ethan there and work on catching him more up to speed on life at the current moment. Taking the others with us wouldn't be too hard. I mean, it'll be a challenge teaching them about current society, but if they're stuck this way for a bit, the education is kind of needed, don't you think?"

"If you're sure," Kimberly stated, rummaging through her closet for something more appropriate than a black t-shirt and pink sweat pants to wear for the day. There was reluctance in her voice. Not at the idea of Kira, Connor, and Trent handling the other five teenagers for the day, but at asking the question, afraid it might change Kira's mind. She did agree however, that if this regression lasted a bit, the temporary teenagers needed to have some idea of how to function at their current ages in the early two thousands.

"We'll will swing by to pick up them all up in about an hour or so," was Kira's only response. Over the last few months she and Kim had begun to understand one another. While Kim hadn't been around for much of her ranger time, their two week encounter with each other as rangers had given them a teammate like bond that they'd been able to carry over into the present.

"You're a god send," Kimberly replied cheerfully. "The guys will really appreciate the opportunity to blow off steam. I know last night could not have been easy on them, and hiding their feelings is probably driving them all nuts."

Kira chuckled in response. "Definitely not," she told the older woman, not letting on that she knew anything about what had happened the night before. If Kim didn't know, she wasn't going to rat them out. "See you soon?"

"Yeah," Kim answered. "Bye," she added, and the teenager repeated her word before they both disconnected the phone call. Kim examined the pink tank top and white shorts she'd pulled out of the closet before lying them both on the bed. Satisfied with what she'd chosen, Kim left her bedroom and went to the closed door of the guest room just near it, knocking a few times, until she heard the groggy voice of her regressed boyfriend answer. "Time to get up. Connor and the others are coming to pick you up soon," she called through the door, stepping back with a smirk on her face, knowing her proclamation would get the desired response. A moment later the door was pulled open, and she was standing practically face to face with the fifteen-year-old dressed in a pair of green and white checkered sweat pants and a green tank top.

"Why?" he asked simply, a puzzled look on his face which also showed he'd just rolled out of bed. There was signs of sleep in his eyes, and his hair was still tussled.

"You and the other victims of the chair of doom are going with them and Trent to Cyberspace for the day. The grownups need a break," she laughed at him. Tommy gave her a slight glare in response. Kim ignored it and turned her back on him, heading back to their bedroom. "Oh, and do me a favor will you and grab the newspaper off the porch once you're done getting dressed?" She didn't give him the chance to respond, as she shut their bed room door.

Tommy stared after her as she retreated and closed her bedroom door, his mouth slightly open. He still remembered what happened the last time he went with the other teenagers to Cyberspace. It hadn't exactly been the highlight of his time regressed in Reefside. He'd spent most of it being teased mercilessly by Connor who was trying to pick up girls. Granted, this time he trusted them a whole lot more, and Trini would be going with him. By the end of the evening prior, his yellow teammate seemed to be much more at ease with him. The fact that her memories were of a time when he was evil, and yet she could so easily begin to trust him was actually a relief. Trini was proof that she and the other rangers really did forgive him for everything that had happened and did want to be his friends. Still, he wasn't sure that five teenagers with gaps in their memories going out to a crowded hang out was a good idea. He did, however, know that defying Kimberly was a bad one, so he went back in his room and rummaged through the box Kim had extricated from some closet for him, searching for something clean, and mostly green to wear for the day.

A few minutes later, he had finished getting dressed and taking care of morning bathroom chores, and was walking back into the house, the morning newspaper clutched in his hand. As he shut the front door, he pulled the paper out of the plastic and unfolded it to glance at the front page. His eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open wide. Kimberly sending him and the other teens off to Cyberspace had been a surprise. But nothing could have prepared him for the image he saw in full color on the front of the paper. "Um…. Kim!" he called urgently, as he tried to fathom what he was supposed to do with the information in front of him. Last, he'd been informed, Kim and the others were retired. He had a feeling she wasn't going to like what was on the newspaper.

"In the kitchen," she called back. Tommy followed her voice, finding her sitting at the small table, a mug of tea in her hands. She had a few pieces of toast on a plate in front of her, but she wasn't eating them. More just picking at them as if she really wasn't that hungry. "Oh good, you got the paper," she told him with a weary smile, extending her hand toward him to take it. Tommy looked up from where his eyes were still locked on the image, and nodded, reluctantly handing the newspaper to her, struggling to close his still slightly gaping mouth. Kim frowned at his response and then looked down at the front page of the newspaper she now held. "What… the… hell…?" Kim asked, her volume level not changing, as she drew out the pause between each word in her question. Tommy shrugged his shoulders, even more confused than she was. He expected her to scream. Her quietness actually frightened him a little.

The image on the front page appeared to have come from a grainy surveillance camera. It showed the entrance to store, which wasn't that weird. What was however, was the presence of four morphed power rangers in the image. Tommy had recognized the suits of his red and black teammates: one at the lead of the group and one at the very back, the black clad individual clearly more reluctant than the red. Over the red ranger's shoulders however, was a blue ranger that Tommy didn't fully recognize (although may have seen the suit in the video from Saturday), and a green ranger stood behind him. If none of them were active rangers anymore, Tommy didn't quite understand how Jason and Zack could morph. If they could, why couldn't he? And who were the blue and green rangers? Why did their suits look different? He knew he couldn't be in two places at once, and Billy wasn't here. As far as he knew, there wasn't a green ranger on the dino thunder team, and besides, they said their powers were gone as well.

"Power Rangers Return to Reefside," Kimberly read the headline of the article out loud, her voice shaking slightly with what Tommy was pretty sure was rage. "You have got to be kidding me! Those idiots morphed last night!" she shouted before launching into a tirade of curse words that would have made Tommy blush even if he was still the evil green ranger. Kim launched herself out of her chair and began pacing the kitchen, anger epithets and threats escaping from her mouth before she turned to face the teenager who'd brought her the news, tossing the paper onto the table and glaring at Tommy.

"Don't blame me!" he said in defense, holding his hands up in front of him and backing up slightly. "I know that's not me," he added, pointing at the green clad power ranger. "I didn't do this," he added, defensively.

"No," Kimberly stated, sighing and shaking her head. "For once, this isn't your fault," she laughed darkly. "But when I get my hands on them, they're all dead," she added, bringing one hand to her head and pinching the bridge of her nose. Stupid didn't even begin to describe the fact that the four men with active powers had gone on a morphing spree around Reefside the night before.

"All?" Tommy asked, "Jason and Zack?" he asked, picking up the discarded paper and skimming through the article. There were several more photos below, one showing the red ranger using some type of vending machine, the green ranger changing a soiled diaper on a store floor, the blue ranger slipping something into the top of his boot, and the red, green, and blue rangers holding sports drinks and running away from a convenience store.

"And Rocky and Adam," Kimberly explained, stepping away from where she'd been leaning against the counter and towards the table. She pointed at the unconscious blue ranger in the photo and then the green one in turn. Tommy frowned as he studied the uniforms more closely. Kim sighed and shook her head. He realized he'd seen them before on the video, but it had been pretty quick. "Remember we said the Zeo powers were still active. But your current physical body might not be compatible with them. Rocky and Adam can still use theirs. Tanya probably can too, seeing how she's currently the correct physical age for them," Kim explained, falling into the chair and picking up the paper.

She began to skim the words that accompanied the photographs. Explaining things to Tommy had calmed her down a bit, but she felt her anger renewed as she read that three rangers had been spotted walking the streets of Reefside and stopping at a small convenience store before being later joined at the park and then again at Walmart by a forth ranger. The article suggested that after a two-month absence, the red, blue, and black rangers had returned to Reefside. There was speculation as to the absence of the yellow and white rangers, including a possible explanation that the two missing had run off and eloped, never to return. Kim was slightly amused by that, and promised herself silently that she'd share that information with Kira later if the teenager hadn't already read the paper. Further, the article suggested that the three familiar colored rangers had brought a new green ranger with them and that this was due to perhaps a new alien threat that was beginning to overtake the community. The other articles in the paper focused on eye witness accounts of the rangers' night out on the town. One article speculated on the new green ranger's natural aptitude at changing diapers, while a second questioned how the blue ranger ended up unconscious at some point. Kim had to admit, she was curious about that one as well. And another article discussed the reluctance of the black ranger to join in with the other rangers, citing the fact that he had always seemed like the most mature of Reefside's rangers. Sighing, Kim shook her head at how willingly blind the population was. She honestly questioned the civilians' inability to pick up the fact that the uniforms they saw the night before were not the same as the ones the rangers had worn while battling Mesogog for nearly a year. How could they not realize the rangers roaming Reefside were not their heroes who disappeared two months before when Mesogog was defeated.

Tommy, glad that Kimberly had calmed down, or at the very least, stopped directing her anger at him, had poured himself a bowl of cereal, and sat down across from her at the table. He kind of hoped the newspaper would dissuade her from sending him and the other regressed rangers off with the Reefside teens for the day. It was a small hope, as he had a feeling she might not want witnesses to the quadruple murder she seemed likely to commit. They were both sitting in silence when they heard the front door open and voices reached them.

"Buffly Ranger!" Katie's voice said in a sing song tone. Tommy raised his eye brow at Kim, who sighed and shook her head, and placed it in both her palms, elbows propped on the table, as the teenager pushed his bowl away and stood up, heading into the hallway as Rocky's voice answered his daughter. He didn't hear Kim following him.

"Why does she keep saying that?" It wasn't exactly clear who Rocky was addressing.

"No idea, Rocko," Tanya stated as Tommy came into the foyer and leaned against the wall, crossing his feet at the ankles and his arms over his chest. She was grinning, and beside her Aisha was giggling, shaking her head in the negative. Adam, behind the teenage girls, who carried Luke in one arm and the diaper bag strung over his chest, shook his head and smirked. "Hey Tommy," Tanya added, spotting the younger teenager.

"Hey," Tommy replied. Over the last few days, he'd come to be more comfortable with Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya, and even regressed, Tanya and Aisha still recognized him. And they weren't afraid of him, which reinforced the fact that power rangers could accept him for what he'd done as the evil green ranger.

"Uncky Ranger!" Katie called out to Tommy when she heard his voice. Tommy let a small smile creep onto his lips as he turned to face the toddler who was straining to escape from Rocky's arms, and was succeeding as her father carried Luke's baby carrier in one of his hands and therefore did not have a good grip on the almost three-year-old. However, the moment his eyes locked onto the older man, they shot open as they took in the pink and purple butterfly and flower design adorning the man's head. It even had glitter.

"Um…" Tommy began, as he took Katie from Rocky's arms and bounced her on his hip. He honestly didn't know how to address this one. First of all, he didn't feel like he really knew Rocky all that well, so he couldn't exactly say that the butterfly and flower tattoo the man sported was normal or not. Second, Tanya, Aisha, and Adam were all giving him looks that suggested he should probably keep his mouth shut.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily, Kimberly chose that moment to make her appearance in the foyer. She stood, a deep glare on her face, hands on her hips, newspaper rolled up and clutched in one hand facing the two adult men and teenage girls who had just entered her home. Adam used his foot to shut the entry door and looked up to meet her gaze, startled at what he saw on her face. Instantly, he knew he was in trouble, but he wasn't 100% sure why. The headache he had, however, gave him a little bit of a clue. "Uh… hey Kim. What's up?"

"What's up?" she repeated his question back to him, calm, cool, and collected. Tommy gulped and backed away, toward the living room, Katie in hand. He knew how angry she really was, and the fact that there wasn't a trace of that in her tone made him worried.

Sensing his movement, Aisha frowned and leaned in to whisper to him. "What's going on?" she asked the teenager currently holding the small child that was apparently her daughter. She didn't let that thought linger in her mind for very long.

"Seriously, if you don't know, you probably don't want to," Tommy whispered back, not taking his eyes off Kim, who was still glaring at Adam and Rocky as if she wanted to kill them. Both unregressed former rangers looked highly worried.

"What the hell did you think you were doing!" Kimberly shouted storming closer to her two former teammates, her hands on her hips. Both men took a leaf out of Tommy's book and stepped back as well. They both swallowed, sensing the waves of anger rolling off Kim.

"She knows," Rocky stage whispered simply to Adam, inclining his head towards his best friend. Adam nodded once, not taking his eyes off the mostly pink clad individual. "How?"

"She's Kim. Does it matter how?" Adam retorted, and Kimberly growled in response, her glare deepening, an almost feral snarl forming on her lips. Off to the side, Aisha and Tanya looked back and forth between their supposed significant others and the only former pink ranger present. "Come on Kim. You've got to watch your language in front of the children; and they shouldn't see murder at their age," Adam told her, holding Luke out in front of him as a form of protection.

Kimberly blinked a few times and then, without taking her eyes of Adam and Rocky, spoke. "Tommy, take Luke and Katie into the living room. I need a few," she paused, narrowing her glare, studying the two former male rangers, "words with these two idiots."

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Tommy," Rocky told the teenager, who had immediately moved to take Luke from Adam. Tommy responded with a look that simply said Rocky was insane. Of course, he had to do what Kim said. He wasn't delusional. Outside, the sound of tires on gravel announced the arrival of more individuals. Tommy wasn't sure if they would be of help, or if they would be adding to a possible body count.

"What's wrong?" Tanya asked, frowning, as Tommy took the infant and did as Kim had strongly commanded. At eighteen, she didn't know Kimberly very well. She'd never met her, and the only thing she knew of her was that she's sent Tommy a break up letter. Tanya's questioning expression was mirrored on Aisha's face.

"You didn't tell them?" Kimberly asked the two men, stunned. "So, you know what you did was wrong? Because even regressed they'll want to kill you as much as I do," Kimberly stated, a bit of a sadistic laugh in her voice. She shook her head and was about to continue when the door opened again, and Trini appeared, talking to Connor, Tyler on her hip. The little boy was talking to his regressed mother as well, still explaining what everything was. He seemed to take the job of explaining things to his mom extremely seriously, and Trini, ever patient wasn't trying to stop him. Kim didn't even look up at her and Connor, as Trini's pleasant chatter died away.

"Did we um… interrupt something?" the fifteen-year-old girl asked, concern evident in her voice and on her face. Tyler had gone quiet as well, and even Connor realized something wasn't right. She didn't like the look she saw on Kim's face. The woman may have been older, but Trini knew Kim well enough to recognize the look on her face as meaning 'Trouble'. "Ok… definitely missing something."

"Connor?" Kim asked, ignoring the teenage girl. "The others with you?" she asked him. Connor, sensing danger, nodded simply. "Good, take them and Tyler and go check on Tommy, Katie, and Luke in the living room."

"Yes ma'am," Connor retorted, giving Adam and Rocky a sympathetic look. Since Kim's eyes still hadn't torn off the two men, Connor figured they were the objects of her anger. And he had a good idea that he knew why. "Kira, Ethan, Trent, get in here now," he shouted at the door.

The three teenagers he'd summoned immediately came through the open door. "Great!" Kira stated, rolling her eyes, sarcasm dripping in her voice. "What happened now?"

"Nothing that concerns us," Connor insisted. "Kim, uh… just wants us to help Tommy with the kids," he added, looking from his only female teammate to Trent and Ethan, who both frowned. "In the living room… uh… now would be good," he added, casting his gaze nervously at Kim and then back at his teammates.

Trent looked over Connor's shoulder at Kim, his eyes going wide when he saw the look on the former pink ranger's face. He did not want to be in Adam and Rocky's shoes at that point, and he had a feeling Jason and Zack might want to wait outside as long as possible. He nodded once. "Yeah, now might be good," he agreed with Connor's assessment, and took hold of Kira's hand dragging her into the living room. Connor took Tyler from Trini's grasp, although the tiny child protested slightly, and then grabbed Ethan by the shoulder before steering him after Trent and Kira, telling Tyler they'd play dinosaurs in the living room while Aunt Kim talked to his daddy and mommy.

"Where'd everyone disap…" Zack asked, as he and Jason finally made their way into the house. "Oh shit," he added, when he saw Kim glaring. He looked at Adam and Rocky. "How the hell did she find out?"

"Find out what?" Trini asked, frowning, her hands going to her own hips, as Jason paled and ran his hand over the back of his head. Kimberly didn't reply, but instead handed the newspaper she held toward the three regressed teenage girls. Aisha and Tanya both wore the same confused expressions as Trini. Trini took the newspaper from her friend's hands and unfolded it while Aisha and Tanya looked over each of her shoulders. The three yellow clad girls studied the paper, their mouths falling open, eyes going wider as they each slowly realized what they were seeing. "You didn't?" Trini stated after a few moments, bringing her gaze up from the paper and onto the man that they'd told her was her husband. "What were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself exposed?"

"Rocky! Adam! What the hell?" Aisha shouted, as Kimberly shifted her stance to a more relaxed one now that she knew she had allies. Apparently all three regressed female rangers felt the same way she did, which she knew would be the case. The four male rangers backed up slightly. Teenagers or not, they knew the foursome of female rangers were dangerous when angry.

"Where did you leave your brains? You are all such idiots!" Tanya added in, shaking her head and glaring at them.

"All?" Aisha stated, blinking, and now looking at Tanya, who frowned and cast her glance at Trini who shrugged. Kim sighed and took the paper back from the first yellow ranger. She'd had to explain for Tommy too, but now it seemed like they had the opposite problem.

"Aisha," Kim stated calmly. "Red and black in this case are Zack and Jason. Adam's in green, while Rocky's in blue."

"Um…" Aisha paused, letting what Kim told her sink in. Either way, it meant that the four male 'former' rangers had morphed. "Ok."

"The point remains! What the hell were you four thinking?" Tanya addressed the four male rangers, she had stalked closer to Adam and was glaring up into his face. She may have been nearly a decade younger than she was the day before, but her face was just as fierce. Her fiancé gulped.

"We're sorry!" Jason argued. "We were just blowing off a little steam." Still, his face was nearly the color of his ranger suit. He looked like a small boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar. The glare Trini was giving him wasn't helping matters.

"Don't lump me in with you three," Zack added, glaring at Jason. "I only went after you to bring your rainbow-colored asses back to the hotel," he stated, in the back of his mind hopeful that the girls would appreciate that part. The glare that didn't shift from any of their faces indicated that nope, they did not. He'd still morphed and gone out as well.

"Zeo powers are stable," Adam defended, but his argument was weak. "We just wanted to have some fun?" The end of his statement came out as a question when all four female glares narrowed in on him.

"How'd that work out of you? Is changing diapers in the middle of Walmart really your idea of fun?" Kimberly argued with him. "And you scared Reefside into believing there's a new alien threat, let alone the risk of exposure you took."

"Wait what?" Rocky asked. "Why the hell would Reefside think they're under attack again?" Although he didn't quite understand that part, he wasn't one hundred percent sure what would have happened that could have resulted in Adam changing a diaper in the middle of Walmart. He turned his gaze onto his friend, one eyebrow raised. Adam just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, let's think. The Power Rangers haven't been seen in two months," Kimberly stated, sarcasm dripping from her voice as she rolled her eyes at her former teammate. "On top of that, every time things seemed to be getting pretty bad for Dino Thunder, a new colored ranger showed up."

"New colored ranger?" Jason asked, frowning, clearly confused. The two teams he'd been a part of were mostly complete. Only one other individual had ever joined them, and once he was that individual, so the idea that more rangers showed up when the city was in dire need of help didn't really register for him.

"Dumbasses!" Kimberly growled, and Aisha, Trini, and Tanya all nodded behind her. "The residents of Reefside have never seen a green ranger before. At least I doubt Adam was spotted back in March. They're freaking out that monster or aliens or mutations or whatever are attacking again and they're all in danger."

"Well," Adam stated, fairly calm, "that explains a lot. I was wondering why they were all looking at me like I was a horseman of the apocalypse," he wore a tiny smirk on his face, and even Kim snorted a slight laugh in response. Tanya smirked and placed her face in her hands, shaking her head. Aisha rolled her eyes and Trini grinned slightly.

"Listen," Rocky stated, "we're really sorry. Yesterday was just a rough day. We needed a way to just let loose a bit. And we weren't exposed."

"You could have been," Aisha told him, hitting him with her arm. "I mean, I gathered you guys got drunk and went out, but I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to do it in morph."

"Well, that's because you didn't know we still could," Adam told her, and Aisha shifted her glare onto him. "What? Seriously, you've known us long enough to know that yes, we would do something like this."

"Ok Yeah," Aisha said, pursing her lips. "You have a point," she added. She may not have known them as long as she technically should have. But she'd known both of them since kindergarten. And Rocky had often talked Adam into doing stupid things during her eleven years' worth of memories.

"How'd you gather we got drunk and went out?" Rocky interrupted the glaring match between his regressed wife and his best friend. Aisha looked at him, and smirked.

"I have my ways," she added, getting giggles from Tanya and even Trini behind her.

"We really should kill you," Kimberly sighed.

"Agreed," Tanya stated, with a nod, lowering her hands away from her face and giving Adam another glare, although it wasn't as severe as it had been before.

"But then I'm alone with all the teenagers," Kimberly added with a smirk. The three regressed girls laughed. "So you can live this time. But if you ever do something this stupid again, I will personally make sure none of you sees the light of day again, understood?"

"As Billy would say," Jason stated, "Affirmative."

"We promise Kim," Zack added in, hand over his chest. Kimberly signed and nodded in response.

"Can I ask a question?" Trini spoke out, getting everyone's attention. "Jason, Zack, Rocky, and Adam can still morph. Anyone else?"

"I was wondering if you'd be curious," Jason laughed, hugging her around the shoulder. "You should be able to," he added.

"And Tanya," Adam added in. "Both of you might actually have stronger powers than we do right now, seeing as you're physically and mentally the same individuals who controlled the powers in the first place."

"Come again?" Tanya asked.

"Morphing into Zeo rangers three and four actually tires Adam and I out a bit because the powers aren't familiar with our physical make up; or at least that's what Billy suggested," Rocky explained before casting his gaze over at Zack and Jason. "How'd you two feel after demorphing yesterday?"

"Little worn out actually, yeah," Zack added. "Guess that makes sense."

"So because Trini and I are actually teenagers, the powers would recognize us?" Tanya asked. "What about Tommy? Can he use Zeo Ranger five?"

"Theoretically, maybe," Adam laughed. "He's currently younger than he ever was using those powers. While we're sure the powers will recognize their user once they're older, we have no idea what the consequence of someone younger than the powers using them would be."

"That doesn't sound like a risk anyone should take," Trini nodded, a frown on her face as she contemplated.

"Which is exactly why I've hidden his Zeonizers," Kimberly laughed. "Just in case," she added.

"Ok, but why can Adam and Rocky morph, but not me?" Aisha asked Kim, who gave her a slight sad smile in response.

"Adam and Rocky can't use their original powers. Neither can Tommy. The only reason the three of them can still morph is because they were Zeo Rangers. Jason, Zack, and Trini didn't give you their power coins. As long as they still have those, they can morph. The other six, mine, Billy's, Tommy's, and the duplicates you three had," Kimberly paused, indicating Aisha and her two best friends, "were destroyed a long time ago. "Leaves three of us without the ability to morph with any powers: you, me, and Billy."

"Kat can morph because even though Kim gave her the power coin, she still has her Zeonizers?" Tanya questioned, more than stated, getting nods from Adam and Rocky.

"Although," Adam stated, pausing for a moment, and looking at Kim. "You, Aisha, and Billy not being able to morph anymore might not actually be true," he added, the look on his face suggesting he was thinking something through in his mind. Kimberly, who'd been taking the newspaper back from the three teenage yellow rangers stopped, and looked up at him, and raised an eyebrow.

"How do you figure?" Zack asked. "We know the power coins were destroyed." Jason had found out all about it during his time with the Zeo team, and he'd filled Zack and Trini in on the whole debacle. Including how the entire planet had been regressed, which they were all glad they didn't have any recollection of.

"Yeah, but I'm thinking about the ninja ranger power. Ninjor helped awaken it within us, but I'm not sure if it was necessarily tied to the power coins. Maybe it's just dormant again?" Adam suggested with a shrug.

"Ninja ranger powers?" Aisha asked, raising her eyebrow, hands on her hips. She was beyond confused by everything else she'd learned. Now they were adding new ranger powers.

"Too early for that?" Rocky chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Kimberly sighed and shook her head.

"You think?" she stated rolling her eyes. "Don't worry about it Aisha. It's not like we even need to morph. It's nothing to worry about." She wrapped her arm around the teenage girl's shoulders and started to steer the group towards the living room.

"Yeah," Adam added, "But I'm still curious."

"Well," Zack told his successor, "you can ask Billy when he gets here."

"How much longer till then?" Jason asked.

"Far too long," Kimberly confirmed with a bit of a laugh. "Come on. Kira, Connor, and Trent offered to take the teenagers to Cyberspace and give us the day off from all this chaos," she informed everyone. "Although, after what you four pulled, I'm thinking maybe you don't deserve a break."

"Are you sure that's a good idea Kim?" Trini asked her. All three regressed female rangers wore apprehensive expression. "I mean, we don't exactly fit in here," she added. She still had so many questions, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be separated from the only people she felt she could fully trust.

"You'll be fine," Kim assured her, with a nod. "Tommy will be there too," she reminded the first yellow ranger who sighed and nodded. Trini realized the adults did need some time to think things through. And if it prevented anymore drunken morphed outings then she was happy to go along.

"Cyberspace sounds cool," Tanya put in, although there was a slight reluctance in her voice. "Guess there's no harm in exploring the current time."

"Just stick with Connor and the others and you'll be fine," Jason stated with a nod. He and the other four adult men were looking forward to a break from the teenagers.

"Oh," Kim stated, suddenly looking up from where she was hugging a downcast Aisha around the shoulders. "Rocky, go clean that ridiculous thing off your forehead. You look like an idiot," she added with a laugh. Rocky frowned at her before turning on his heels and running towards the bathroom at the back of the house.

"What the fuck guys!" Rocky shouted loud enough for everyone to hear him, causing everyone else to dissolve into laughter.

* * *

If it wasn't for the fact that he didn't recognize any of the people he was sitting with except one, the day Tommy had had could almost be considered normal. When they'd reached Cyberspace, Connor and Kira had pushed a couple of tables together so that the eight teenagers could all sit around them comfortably. Well, eight when Trent wasn't working. Otherwise there were seven. Over the course of the early part of the day, Connor and Kira had filled Ethan, Tanya, Trini, and Aisha in on how they all knew each other. Tommy had heard the story the day he'd been regressed, but he actually didn't mind hearing it again. The red, white, and yellow Dino thunder rangers had also spent most of the day trying to catch Ethan and Tommy, but Ethan more so, on how they'd turned Trent good and finally beaten Mesogog finally. Trent had just gone off serving other patrons when the conversation at the table was interrupted by Cassidy and Devin.

"Hey Guys! How's it going?" Devon called out causing everyone in the group to look up.

"Oh," Kira stated, slightly unsure of how this was going to go. "Nothing much. You guys?"

"Not bad. Haven't seen you since the beach Sunday evening. Tommy been keeping a low profile?" Cassidy asked, patting Tommy's shoulder as she dropped her voice low enough that only the four dino thunder rangers would hear. Ethan's went wide as something in her tone conveyed that Cassidy knew more than he thought she should.

"Yeah," Connor laughed. "Low profile. You guys need something?" he added, stressing the word need. He could tell his two regressed teammates were more than a little uncomfortable.

"Just wanted to report in some gossip from the party," Devin stated, with a shake of his head and a genuine smile.

"Word is that Tommy is pretty cute. Way more attractive than his Uncle Doctor Oliver," Cassidy stated with a giggle.

"Well, most of that comes from the girls. But yeah," Devin stated with a shrug. He nudged Tommy who was already glowing beat red. Across the table, Trini, Aisha, and Tanya were trying desperately not to laugh at their former teammates reaction.

"Doesn't matter who said it, as long as it was said, right?" Cassidy asked, looking pointedly at Kira, Connor, and Ethan. "Point is Doctor Oliver's nephew has made an impression in Reefside," she added.

"Definitely," Kira stated, forcing a fake smile onto her face. "Thanks for catching us up guys. We appreciate it," she added.

"No problem," Devin stated, slinging his arm over Cassidy's shoulders, and beginning to steer his girlfriend away from the table of former power rangers. "Oh, by the way, who are these ladies?"

So close. Kira groaned inwardly. They'd been so close to Cassidy and Devin not getting suspicious of Trini, Aisha, and Tanya. All they'd had to do was walk away and that would be one less cover story that needed to be told.

"Cousins," Connor blurted out, running his hand over the back of his head. He looked at Kira who shrugged slightly and then at Ethan who still looked as if he was going to pass out. Clearly the former blue ranger was going to be no help.

"Hi," Tanya spoke up suddenly, helping the former red ranger out. "I'm Tanya," she stated. "Ethan's cousin, and this is my sister Aisha," she added in. "We're visiting for a bit while our parents are on a vacation," she stated calmly. Aisha just smiled and nodded. Cassidy switched the blatant frown she wore from Connor, Tanya, and Aisha to Trini.

"And who's she?" Cassidy stated, clearly not convinced.

"Like Connor said," Trini spoke up, "I'm his cousin," she added in.

"Cousin?" Cassidy repeated in disbelief, her eyebrows raised, one hand on her hip.

Trini shifted her expression into one of mock anger and irritation, although no one who didn't know her really well would have known the expression were fake. "I'm adopted. There a problem with that?" she asked with a bit of attitude in her voice.

"Sorry," Cassidy muttered, blushing a bit. "It's nice to meet you," she added, clearly uncomfortable with the situation as it appeared she no longer had the upper hand. "Come on Devin, I'm starving," Cassidy stated, tossing her hair over her shoulder and rushing out of Cyberspace before anyone else could say anything.

Devin gave everyone a grimace and then a sincerely apologetic look before running his hand through his hair. "Really sorry about that," he stated, although his apology was mostly directed at Trini, rather than the entire group. Trini just nodded once, and Devin turned to leave, calling after Cassidy to wait up for him.

"Oh, man," Connor burst out laughing. "That was awesome," he stated, and Kira nodded, a grin on her face.

"You really have to work on your cover story skills," Aisha told Connor, shaking her head as Trini blushed slightly at the praise. Tommy beamed at her, glad that it was his teammate who had scared off his harasser.

"Ok," Ethan stated, his eyes wide and his eyebrows raised at Connor and Kira specifically, "so who wants to explain what just happened, because I'm lost," he told them, clear confusion on his face. "They know something," he added, inflection in the word something.

"Yeah dude," Connor stated with a bit of a grimace. "They do," he added, shaking his head and running both hands over his face. "They kinda caught the five of us on camera. They know who we are, or were, rather."

"You mean?" Ethan began, he confusion changing into a deep frown and a look of dread. "Great just great. Now all of Reefside is going to know."

"Ethan," Kira laughed. "Chill. They've known for months, and they haven't told anyone. They're helping keep Tommy's real identity a secret too," she told him, patting the blue clad teenager on the shoulder. He glared at her and then shook his head, before laying it down on his folder arms on the table.

"I'm getting a migraine," Ethan stated.

"Join the club," Kira mocked him with a laugh.

"Hey Ethan!" A new voice interrupted and the dejected looking teenager's head shot up to try and find the source of the call. He paled slightly when he realized there was a teenage girl he'd never seen before walking towards him and the rest of the group. The teenager had her long black hair pulled into a ponytail and was wearing a pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt as well as a pair of red converse. She had a messenger bag draped across her chest.

"Uh…" Ethan stammered as the girl approached. She clearly knew him, but he had absolutely no idea who she was. Logic told him that he must have met her then, just at some point between the current day and the point at which his memories lasted until.

"Who are your friends?" The girl asked when she finally reached the group, a pleasant smile on her face.

"Uh…" Ethan continued to stammer, and even Tommy felt bad for the poor cornered teenager.

"You must be Alex?" Trent suddenly appeared behind the teenager. "I saw you with Ethan Sunday night at the party?" He carried a tray of glasses.

"Yeah," the girl, Alex, stated, turning to face Ethan's savior. Behind her back, Ethan mouthed the word 'Thank you' to the former white ranger who had just come to his rescue. Considering all his personal encounters with Trent suggested the white clad individual was on Mesogog's side, it reassured Ethan that Connor and Kira were telling him the truth about Trent. "We were talking. I mentioned I was new and needed a job," she explained, taking in the fact that Trent wore an apron, had a pencil stuck behind his ear, and was delivering drinks, as a sign that he worked there. "He said Cyberspace might be hiring."

"We might be," Trent stated with a nod, as he set down eight glasses of water on the table. Each of the teenagers at the table began distributing them among themselves. "But Haley, the owner, is out of town. I can give her your information though. I'm Trent by the way. That's Connor and Kira," he stated. "And our friends from out of town: Tommy, Tanya, Trini, and Aisha." Each teenager waved, smiled, or greeted the teenage girl in return as Trent stated their names.

"Some of us are cousins," Aisha giggled, and Tanya elbowed her friend lightly in the side, shaking her head. Trent gave them a quick look before smirking.

"It's nice to meet you all. Thanks for the offer Trent," Alex replied. Trent nodded and passed her his order book and the pencil so she could write down her contact. The teenage girl shifted her weight wrote quickly before handing the book back to Trent. She turned her attention back to Ethan who had actually begun to relax a bit and was sipping his water through one of the straws Trent had tossed onto the table. "Ethan," she stated with a smile, "we're still on for that movie Saturday, right?"

Ethan immediately inhaled sharply, causing the water to run down his trachea instead of his esophagus. He instantly started coughing, and Connor began to pound on his friend's back.

"Oh," Kira stated, "What movie are you going to see?"

"The new one about space," Alex stated, "I forgot the name," she added with a bit of a laugh.

"I know the one you're talking about," Kira stated, although she actually had no idea. "It looks good. I've been dying to see it. Would you mind if Trent and I tagged along?"

"That'd be great," Alex stated with a nod and a genuine smile. "I need to get to know more people, and we can make it a double date," she stated. Kira gave the girl a smile back, while Ethan, his coughing dying down, mouthed the word 'date' his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

"Sounds like a plan," Kira stated, reaching over to a stunned Trent and grabbing pad. She ripped out a page and pulled his pencil from his hand, jotting down her number. "Send me a text message with the details later," she stated, handing the information to Alex.

"Will do," the new teenager nodded. "See you guys. Bye Ethan. See you Saturday." Ethan could just barely nod as Alex turned her back and left the group alone again.

"What just happened?" Ethan groaned, realizing all eyes were on him.

"Kira just signed us up for a double date with a new girl in town," Trent told him, placing his hand on the teenagers shoulders. "What movie are we seeing, anyway?"

"No idea," Kira laughed. "And someone had to do something. Ethan couldn't just sit there gaping at her like a fish," she told him, and the other three teenage girls laughed in agreement. "Besides," Kira stated, ignoring the glare Ethan was casting towards her. "It's not until Saturday. With luck, Billy gets here on Friday and fixes this, and Ethan's back to normal and can handle himself. Worst case, he still has no clue who she is and Trent and I can provide help," she stated.

"You're brilliant when you want to be," Connor told her after a moment pause. Kira smirked and rolled her eyes, looking over at Ethan.

"This situation just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it," Ethan groaned. Everyone else laughed at him. "I'm going to play video games," he interjected.

"I'll come," Tommy volunteered and Ethan nodded, leading the younger teenager away from the table.

"Anyone up for some foosball?" Connor asked, and Aisha nodded. They both slipped away as well, allowing Trent to fall into the empty chair left next to Kira. Trini and Tanya sat on the opposite side of the table.

"This has been an interesting experience," Trini stated with a bit of a laugh.

"I'd say that's the understatement of the century," Kira told the first of her power lineage. "Never thought I'd get to meet you, let alone see what you're like at roughly my age."

"I'm nothing special," Trini argued, although she blushed slightly at the clear praise in Kira's voice. "Just a teenager," she added.

"Don't sell yourself short," Trent told the girl. "Either of you. We've told Tommy this too, but we wouldn't be rangers if it wasn't for everyone who came before us. You mean a lot to us."

"Thanks guys," Tanya told the two actual teenagers. Suddenly, she jumped slightly. On the table in front of her was the purse she'd been carrying around for a couple of days. Something inside it had vibrated and began to play music of some sort. Kira and Trent laughed as Tanya reached inside the purse and drew out a small rectangular object. It was yellow and silver and had the word Nokia written above the small green screen. It was source of the vibrating and the music. On the small screen she saw the word "Jessica" displayed. "Um… what's this?"

"That would be your cell phone," Kira stated, taking the device from Tanya as the ringing died away. She studied the screen. "Someone named Jessica was calling you. Maybe they'll leave a voice mail."

"Voice mail?" Tanya and Trini both stated.

"Like a home answering machine," Trent explained with a laugh. "Only this one's portable," he added as Kira handed Tanya back the little object.

"So this is a phone?" Tanya asked, in disbelief. "Like you can make calls from it?"

"And receive them," Kira added with a smile. "Your battery is pretty low though. It hasn't been charged since Monday morning, probably," she added in.

"Charged?" Trini asked. "Ok, I'm confused," she added in, grabbing her own purse, and digging through it. She found a similar looking yellow device inside hers, but the screen was completely black, unlike the green glow being emitted from Tanya's.

"They have battery," Trent laughed. "You have to charge them to get them to work," he explained shaking his head. "You know what, I think this is a topic for Jason and Adam to explain to you," he added.

"Alright," Tanya stated, laughing a bit. "Hey Kira," she added in. "Where's the rest room?"

"Oh, over there, towards the back," Kira stated, pointing Tanya in the correct direction.

"Thanks," the teenager stated, clutching the cell phone in one hand and slinging her purse over her shoulder with the other. She stood up and walked away from the table, contemplating the device in her hand. At the bottom of the screen on one side, she saw the word "contacts". She pushed the button directly below it, and a list of names popped up. Adam's was right at the top, followed by Aisha and several other individuals in the "As" and one in the "Bs". Frowning, Tanya pushed the down arrow key on the phone as she made her way towards the bathroom. The list of names changed as she held the button down, speed through the alphabet. Mesmerized, Tanya only stopped when the display entered the "Ks" and only because the first highlighted name caught her attention. Kat.

She stood outside the bathroom door for a moment, studying the three letter name on the screen, contemplating exactly who it might belong to. Sure, Adam, Rocky, and Jason were doing their best to help her adjust to her current surroundings, but she was in a time were not a lot made sense to her. And all she wanted was to feel safe and ok. She trusted the boys on her team, but the problem was that they weren't boys anymore. She needed her best friend. Aisha was there, and that was ok. But she didn't know Trini, and she didn't trust Kim very much. And the device in her hand may have just provided her with a way to contact the one person she knew she could trust above all others.

Tanya took a deep breath and turned on the balls of her feet, walking back into the main area of Cyberspace. She peered around the corner of the hall that led to the bathrooms and checked that Kira, Trent, Trini and the other were all otherwise occupied, and then she slipped out the main entrance of the cyber café, her feet rhythmically hitting the pavement as she put a bit of distance between herself and the others. Her heart was pounding and she could hear her blood flowing in her ear. She knew she shouldn't do what she was going to, but something was clearly not right, and Adam and Rocky were hiding it from her. She needed answers and she needed Kat.

As she walked, she hit the green button on the cell phone, figuring green had to be a good thing. The screen changed, showing Kat's name across the center. Tanya frowned and bit her lip, raising the phone to her ear. She heard ringing and blinked a few times. On the third ring, she heard a click.

"Hello," a familiar Australian accented female voice stated. It was a perfect match to what she remembered, but it was close.

"Kat," Tanya exhaled as she said her friends name, falling onto a park bench she's stopped in front of at the same time, almost as if the wind had been knocked out of her.

"Hey Tanya! What's up? How's Reefside?" Tanya blinked, stunned. Katherine recognized her voice. She knew Tanya was in Reefside. But how? Why wasn't Kat there too?

"It's horrible!" the teenager suddenly blurted out. She was completely overwhelmed. She had been since she'd woken up in the basement lair under Tommy's house and been told she'd aged backwards ten years. She'd done a pretty good job up until that point of hiding it, but hearing Kat's voice allowed her to let her guard down and open up. "Tommy and Kim are together, which I don't understand. Rocky and Aisha have kids! Jason has a beard! And I'm engaged to Adam!" she rattled off, a strangled sob escaping her. Tanya clung to the phone with one hand and clasped her head in her other hand, a couple of tears rolling down her face.

"Whoa! Tanya," Kat replied. "Slow down. Calm down. So, first of all, I know nothing about Jason and his beard. Didn't know he was going to be there," she laughed a bit. "But last time I checked all the other things were good things, not horrible. What did Adam do?" Clearly, Katherine thought maybe Tanya had had a fight with her fiancé. That was the only thing she could think of that would make Tanya describe her relationship as 'horrible'.

"He didn't do anything!" Tanya sobbed. "He's been wonderful. Caring. Concerned. I mean, there was the incident with drunken morphing last night, but after yesterday, I don't really blame him. And how can you be ok with Tommy and Kim! She broke up with him using a damn letter," Tanya ranted again.

"Drunken what?" Kat asked. "Tanya, what's going on? Tommy and I haven't been together since High school. Aisha told me they'd gotten back together in March. I'm happy for them. You know that."

"But then why aren't you here?" Tanya whined. This made no sense. If Kat wasn't upset with Tommy being romantically involved with Kimberly again, then why was she the only one not at the reunion. How could she know that Tanya would be there, but not Jason? What was going on?

"Tanya, you know Tommy hasn't reached out to me yet. Kim and I have talked, but I told her that it was up to Tommy. Last time I checked, Jason hadn't heard from him either," Kat stated, and Tanya could hear the confusion in her voice. "Tanya, why are you acting like you don't remember Tommy cutting off ties to everyone?"

"He did what?" Tanya stated, her eyes flying open as she whipped the tears away. Now she sort of understood why Rocky and Adam had been hiding things from her.

"Tanya, what on earth is going on there?" Katherine demanded. "You're really scaring me."

"I…" Tanya started. "They're going to kill me when they find out I called you," Tanya stated. "They said it was complicated," she added. "I should have listened."

"Who?" Kat asked, anxiety in her voice.

"Rocky and Adam," Tanya stated, her voice calmer.

"Why?" Kat's voice suggested less fear but now a heightened amount of suspicion.

"Tommy, um… he kind of built a chair of doom, and it kind of caused a few of us to regress a little bit," Tanya stated. There was a long pause where all she could hear was Katherine's breathing on the other end of the call. "Kat?" she asked after they'd been silent almost a full minute.

"How old are you?" Kat stated slowly, emphasizing each word. Tanya could hear the anger and the worry in her best friend's voice.

"Um…" Tanya paused.

"How old are you?" Kat repeated her question with more severity. Tanya knew the former pink ranger was not playing around.

"Eighteen," Tanya stated with a grimace, running her free hand over the back of her neck. "Kat, don't freak out."

"Freak out?" Kat cut her off. "Why on earth would I freak out, Tanya? My best friend calls me out of the blue to tell me that Tommy Oliver has regressed her back into a teenager. Yeah, that's nothing to freak out about. I'm perfectly calm," Kat finished, her voice clearly on the verge of panic.

"Glad you're calm," Tanya chuckled slightly, although she was clearly still upset by what she'd learned from Katherine. Tommy had cut himself out of everyone's life? She was a smart girl. Connor, Kira, and Trent had just filled her in on their trip to the past, which must have been how Tommy had reconnected with Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Billy, and Kim. Her reconnection with him must have been through Adam. It made some sense. She wasn't completely sure how Jason, Trini, and Zack ended up there, if Kat's comment about Tommy not reaching out to Jason yet was true.

"Yeah," Kat practically growled. "Who else," she asked after a moment.

"Aisha's sixteen, Trini's fifteen, Tommy's fifteen, and I think Ethan's closer to seventeen than eighteen," Tanya told her everything she could remember.

"Ethan's one of the dino thunder teenagers, right?" Kat asked Tanya, her voice a bit more calm.

"Yeah, I think so, everything's a bit confusing."

"You have no memory of anything after the age you are now, huh?" Kat asked the girl. "And Tommy did this to himself too?"

"Apparently," Tanya laughed. "Serves him right," she added, clearly bitter with her former teammate.

"You ok for right now?" Kat asked Tanya. "Where are you?"

Tanya looked around at her surroundings for the first time. She had walked far enough that she was on the outskirts of a park. "Park bench. I'm ok, why?"

"Cause it's going to take me a bit to get out there," Kat told her. "I need to know you're alright until I do."

"You're coming here?" Tanya asked, both elated and apprehensive at the exact same time.

"Of course I am. And I'm going to kill your fiancé and a few others for not contacting me immediately," she told Tanya. "You're probably freaking out beyond anything you just told me," Kat added with a bit of a laugh. "And none of this is getting fixed until Billy gets back, I take it."

"Kat?" Tanya asked, a smile on her lips.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Tanya stated. She put all of her emotions into one word. She felt more relieved knowing that Katherine was coming to Reefside than she had since she'd initially regressed.

"No problem, Tan," Kat told her. "Now, do you know how to hang up a cell phone?"

"Ha ha," Tanya replied, rolling her eyes. "I figured out how to make the call didn't I?"

"Just checking," Kat laughed at her. "See you soon, Tanya."

"You too, Kat," Tanya replied, and pulled the cell phone away from her ear. She didn't need to end the call. The phone did it for her as soon as Katherine cut the connection. Tanya sighed and brushed the last remnants of tears out of her eyes. She glanced at the time on the phone, realizing she'd been gone a while, and immediately took off at a run back towards Cyberspace. She had no doubt that they'd question her extended absence but she was confident that she was better at her cover stories than Connor was.

* * *

You asked for it. Or rather, many of you have begged and begged for it. Apparently, ask enough and you shall receive. Kat will be joining the cast.

Oh, and I meant to do this last chapter but I forgot, so I'll do it now. Since I have several ideas which will work either way in the very very far off future, I can't decide if Baby Oliver is a boy or a girl. Include your opinion in your review and I'll keep track as a poll. It'll be taken into consideration.

Happy New Year to everyone,

Fateless Wanderer


	20. Chapter 20

So, not quite three months, but I do apologize for the wait. Life has been busier than ever for me in the last few months. But in addition to that, I'll be honest about something because some of you have PMed me over the last few months confiding things in me and I feel as if I can do the same. The last chapter or so generated a few negative, though very respectful reviews, and while I believe that this story is nothing special, I am human and I let the reviews get to me. I'm not perfect. I understand criticism, but I was bothered, simply because I am human. And for a while, I lost the drive to write. But the more I thought about it, I realized, it wasn't that the reviews were negative, but rather that they were sent by guests, meaning, I had no way to respond. At least not immediately, and it was that aspect that bothered me, though again, now that I'm several months removed from the moment, I realize I shouldn't have been bothered at all. Again, I'm human. But, this is my story and my outlet, and I'm happy with how its being written. And so, I do want to just take a moment to address some of the things in those reviews, not with the intent of changing anyone's mind, but because it will make me, a human, feel better:

This is 100% a story that explores the relationships between each of the rangers, past as well as present (well, present for the story line). The regression is simply a tool which allows me to very easily have reason to show how I believe the characters would have felt about each other as teenagers, as well as how they feel about one another in the present. There is very little Cannon that places Adam and Tanya together, so by regressing Tanya, I can explore more deeply how she felt as a teenager, and by association how Adam did, and how they both feel as adults because she can simply ask him. And while there is little Cannon for Adam and Tanya, there is virtually none for Aisha and Rocky, as well as Trini and Jason, so once again, the regression serves as a catalyst for situations and conversations that would otherwise be really random. An adult Trini would never have asked Jason how they fell in love with one another because she simply would already have known. Besides the romantic relationships, the "emergency" was catalyst to bring other characters back into Tommy's life, along with characters who might not have seen one other regularly. I'm quite pleased with the relationships I've been able to establish between characters like Adam and Trini who wouldn't have known each other long, and Rocky and Jason who's interaction was not always pleasant. Further, this story has a set time frame of approximately two weeks (the length of the reunion). While yes, the current regression has lasted for 19, now 20 chapters (because it's not going away until Billy and Haley fix things), bare in mind that I have no chapter limit, and this it is currently only Tuesday (5 days after the regression took place) with another 11 or so days in the story left to go). So I don't feel I have drawn it out too long. There are still many relationships I want to explore and give insight to. A few of which will be examined a bit deeper in this chapter. Finally, bringing Kat in will in no way constitute Kim/Kat drama. I've stated in multiple author's notes that while I never enjoyed Tommy/Kat pairings, I actually really liked Kat's character. I will not pretend, as I haven't hidden it from Tommy in the story, that Kat and he ever dated, but there will be no drama between the two pink rangers. In fact, Kat and Kim are currently closer friends than Tommy and Kat, seeing as he hasn't reconnected with her. So just because I chose to bring Kat in, does not mean that I am doing so to create 'drama', because I actually dislike those stories myself.

Ok, with that all off my chest, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Warning, it's not as comical as many of the others. In fact it is more along the serious lines, but I do hope you like the insights to the characters it provides.

* * *

"Well," Kimberly stated, entering the living room and stretching her arms up above her head. "They're all finally asleep," she added, tossing the baby monitor she held in her hand at Rocky who was seated on the floor with his back pressed against the base of the love seat. He caught it easily between both of his hands.

"Thanks Kim," he stated and Kim just gave him a nod, folding her legs up underneath herself as she sank into the lone arm chair in the living room. "Normally Katie goes down fairly easily for me," he stated, shaking his head. "But no, she chooses now to want only 'mommy'."

"Of course she's going to choose now," Adam stated from his seat on the love seat above his best friend "She's missing Aisha," he added.

"We all are," Jason added to the conversation, and beside him on the sofa, Zack nodded. "All of them," he amended. "But we'll get them back."

"You sure of that?" Kim asked, a look of concern on her face. It was late afternoon already and the five lone former ranger adults had spent most of the day avoiding the topic of their regressed friends. They needed a day to just relax, and Katie, Luke, and Tyler had kept them busy enough. They'd spent most of the day at the park, only leaving when Katie and Tyler looked close to passing out from exhaustion. However, when they'd returned to Tommy and Kim's place, the small girl had refused to take a nap, begging and pleading to see her mommy instead. Being the only female present had helped Kim at least calm the toddler down enough to allow her to rock the child to sleep, though Katie had still been mumbling calls for her mother as she drifted off to dream land.

The concern on her face was mirrored in Adam, Rocky, and Jason's faces. Each cast their gaze down towards their feet. While the teenagers being absent for most of the day had allowed them to let their guard down, they actually really hadn't. They'd kept their fear, anger, confusion, and stress to themselves, none of them wishing to burden the others with how they felt.

"Have confidence that Billy can fix this," Zack told them. "We've been through worse, don't forget that," he added in when he realized that his friends expressions hadn't shifted. There was a pause in their conversation as each took in Zack's words, their minds going back through situations that could have indeed been deemed worse. There were a lot of them.

Finally, it was Jason who spoke up, breaking the silence. "You think this would have happened if we'd never drifted apart?"

No one answered him at first. Kim stared at him. She knew exactly what he was thinking and feeling. They'd been friends for too long for her not to know. Jason wasn't just upset that Trini had been regressed. He was pissed off about the fact that the only reason he, Zack, and Trini were even present was because Tommy had messed up and caused an emergency. If the chair hadn't back fired, Tommy never would have needed Jason to come to the rescue. But Tommy wouldn't have had reason to make the chair if they'd all seen each other on a regular basis over the years. The situation was confusing. Jason wanted to be angry at Tommy for pushing him out of his life, he also wanted to be angry at him for creating the chair which is what brought him back into it. He knew he was angry, he just couldn't decide which anger was more warranted.

"Jason," Kim began after a few moments. She wanted to tell him, or rather tell them all, what she'd learned that night when a twenty seven year old Tommy had kissed her in nineteen ninety five. She hadn't fully understood it that night, but she'd known since she was seventeen that she was a big part of the reason Tommy had cut himself from all of their lives. While she was truthful in the fact that she wouldn't change how their lives had gone, she felt guilty at the thought that maybe some of the others had regrets about something she was the catalyst for.

"Probably," Rocky stated, snorting a laugh, finally, breaking the tension before Kim really had the chance to tell them anything. Kim caught Adam's eye. The look he was giving her was of concern, and it was clearly for more than their obvious current situation. She realized a few tears had come into her eyes and she brushed them away on the back of her arm before anyone else noticed. "This or something else," he added. "Morphing grid will never let us go," he added.

"Yeah," Adam stated, taking his attention off Kim, smirking and shaking his head. He knew Kim was blaming herself for Tommy pulling away. It was the letter she'd sent that had hurt him so badly that Tommy had decided not to risk that pain ever again. He'd been an idiot back then, but as Adam had already stated, none of them had tried to stop him. It had been one less thing to fight, and at that point they were all tired of fighting for things. "Tommy's the catalyst. If we'd never drifted apart we'd have been plagued by insanity our whole lives. Drifting apart gave us a break, so there is a positive," he laughed, sarcastically.

Zack and Jason blinked, looking at their successors. They'd never really thought about it that way.

"You think it was worth it?" Jason asked simply, although his face showed that he clearly already knew the answer.

"No," Adam replied immediately. There was no hesitation in his answer. Rocky and Kim both shook their heads no, agreeing with Adam's assessment.

"Didn't think so," Jason smirked darkly. He punched one closed fist into his open hand. "Kim," he stated, "when we get him back to normal, I'm going to kill him."

"I figured as much," Kim muttered. "To be honest, I think that's what he's been worried about," she added. "Every time I brought it up, he told me he'd contact you guys later."

"He didn't answer his communicator or his cell phone when we first reached out," Rocky added and Adam nodded.

"He deserved that punch you gave him," the second black ranger stated.

"Then why did you all forgive him?" Zack asked, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together, pressing his index fingers against one another. His voice showed genuine interest, and the second red and black rangers didn't doubt that Zack wanted to kill the real version of Tommy as well.

"What exactly happened during that trip to the past?" Jason added, frowning.

Kim looked at Rocky and Adam, both who shrugged, unsure how to put their feelings into words. The former pink ranger rolled her eyes. "We saw regret," Kim told Jason and Zack, leaving out the fact that she regretted ever sending the letter in the first place. "When the memory lock that Billy created broke, we could remember seeing both versions of Tommy together. And there was a distinct difference between the two. The teenager, the one we were so close with, was family, and he was horrified at the idea that his friends were not in his life. The adult, well, it's hard to explain," she continued, gazing down at her own lap.

"It was like part of him was dead," Adam supplied for her. "He was darker, sarcastic, but it was like a mask. Like part of him was missing."

"We're not saying that pulling away from all of us was right," Rocky stated, watching his predecessor carefully and remembering the punch in the face he'd given Tommy only a few months before. "But I have never seen more sincere regret in my entire life. He didn't answer our calls or his communicator because he was scared of our reactions. And he had two weeks to show us when we were still his friends how sorry he actually was. He doesn't have that with you guys," Rocky added, meaning Jason, Zack, and Trini.

"That's why he hasn't reached out," Adam told them with a nod, agreeing with his best friend. "We should have helped with that," he added.

"I should have been more forceful," Kim agreed, nodding her head. "I never should have let him go so long without contacting you. I could have," she trailed off, a small sob like groan escaping her voice. She brushed her eyes again. "I'm sorry Jase, it's my fault," she admitted.

Zack frowned, trying to understand why Kim would blame herself for the fact that an almost thirty year old didn't have the courage to call up his old friends and apologize. "It's not your fault, Kim," Zack told her, completely missing the slightly bewildered look on Jason's face. The first red ranger knew Kim just as well as she knew him, and he'd clearly read the hidden meaning in her apology.

"Kim," Rocky added in, "he's a grown man. You couldn't make him contact Jason and the others any more than you could have stopped him from isolating himself to begin with," the second red ranger stated, clearly having no idea about what transpired between Doctor Oliver and seventeen year old Kim back when he'd been regressed into a small child.

"That's not true," Kim stated, her voice barely above a whisper. "I should have just invited them," she added, moving her mind as far away from that rainy evening as she possibly could.

"And then Jason would have been the second red ranger to sucker punch your boyfriend," Adam told her, standing up and hugging the emotional pink ranger around the shoulder. He laughed slightly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh," Jason laughed. "I still will be. He is not getting out of this unscathed," he added. "Might toss in a kick in the ass for good measure as well."

The others laughed, including Kim, who shook her head. "Just leave enough of him intact that I don't have to start training a new boyfriend, alright?" she asked Jason, who smirked.

"No promises," he added. "I now also owe him for what his stupid idea did to my wife."

"Me too," Rocky stated. "I'll hold him down while you hit if you give me a go afterwards," he suggested.

"You have a deal," Jason replied. And Kim groaned, holding her head in her hand. "Now, is this before or after we get the girls back to normal?"

"Before," Adam replied, ignoring Kim who he still had his arm wrapped around. "If we allow them to grow back up first," he continued, "they'll stop us."

"You think?" Zack laughed. "I can't see them being too happy about what he's done to them."

"Adam's right," Jason stated, shaking his head. "Trini wouldn't let me even lay a finger on him. I say we have Billy get Tommy back to normal first."

"Ok, and on the note of you three discussing the beating of my boyfriend," Kimberly stated, with a slight smirk on her features. She pushed herself out of the arm chair. "I'm stepping outside for some air. Please feel free to continue to vent. It's better than your drunken morphing de-stressor last night." She watched all four male rangers wince slightly as she opened the sliding back door and stepped out into the back yard, closing it behind her.

"You think she's ok?" Zack asked, turning his gaze from watching her back to the other three men still in the room.

"She's as upset as we are and she didn't get to blow off steam last night. She's been living with Tommy in this state since Friday night," Adam told him and then looked at Jason. "Probably shouldn't have been talking about beating the crap out of him should we?"

"Probably not," Jason stated with a slight snicker, shaking his head. "She's always loved him," he added, although there was a bit of inflection in his voice that made it sound like a question. Adam gave a brief nod. He was pretty sure Jason suspected the same thing he did. And Kim had let a little bit slip if they'd known her well enough or were really good at picking up on things. "Anyone else?" Jason asked Adam, causing Zack and Rocky both to frown. Somehow the conversation seemed to have shifted to realms beyond their understanding. Although how Jason and Adam knew something they didn't confused them even more.

"Trini," Adam stated, and Jason nodded. Of course his wife would have picked up on the real reason Tommy had isolated himself. "Told me Saturday," Adam continued.

"Billy?" Jason guessed, nodding. Both the first red and second black were completely ignoring the continued looks of confusion on Zack and Rocky's faces.

"I'd assume so," Adam replied, allowing himself to fall into the arm chair. He tore his eyes off Jason for a moment and looked out into the back yard. He could see Kim standing in the grass, with her back towards them, her arms crossed over her chest. She was staring at a punching bag that hung from a tree. "How long you giving her?"

"She hit something yet?" Jason asked, without turning. Since the sofa had its back to the door, he couldn't see her without turning around.

"Not yet," Adam stated, "but it's inevitable," he added with a smirk.

"Then she's had long enough," Jason confirmed with a nod. He stood up and stretched and headed to follow Kimberly out into the yard.

"What the hell was that about?" Jason heard Rocky ask Adam. He could sense his former green teammate's smirk in response.

"Kim knows the real reason why Tommy cut us all out of his life," Adam replied, as Jason opened the door.

"There's more to it than just not wanting the rest of us to get hurt?" Rocky asked. Jason cast a quick look over his shoulder to see Adam shaking his head and Rocky looking confused. Zack had a bemused expression on his face and was watching Jason. The first black ranger seemed to be putting the pieces together as well.

"Rocko," Adam replied, "it was never that simple," he told his best friend as Jason closed the door behind him. He'd let the second black ranger fill Rocky and Zack in on what he'd already guessed.

Almost silently, Jason was able to walk up to Kim. She was so lost in thought she didn't hear him approach. She jumped and instinctively twisted and took a defensive position when he laid his hand on her shoulder, before exhaling deeply when her eyes fell on Jason. "You're on edge," Jason told her simply.

"After what happened four months ago, you would be too," she replied, rolling her eyes at him.

"Fair point," Jason replied, taking his eyes off her and looking at the punching bag. "You going to hit it?" he asked her. "Always made us feel better," he continued. The word 'us' was loaded. Kim knew he meant himself and Tommy. And by using the word 'was', Jason was purposely referring to the times when they were all a family, since clearly, both men still used hitting a punching bag as a means of letting off stress.

"That's the problem, isn't it?" she asked him. "Without his whole fiasco, there wouldn't be an 'us'," she stated with a sarcastic laugh. "Well, there's a half us, but my family's not complete. If Tommy hadn't regressed himself, you and Trini and Zack wouldn't be here. And if Tommy and the kids hadn't gone back in time, none of us would be here. Tommy would just have continued on his own. Who knows if we'd ever have seen him again?"

"You're right," Jason told her, nodding. He curled both hands into fists and raised them to a guard position, before lightly tapping the punching bag and making it sway slightly.

"Jason, I miss what it was like," she continued. "Seeing Tommy and Trini like this. They remind me so much of what we were back then, when we all saw each other all the time," Kim half sobbed, half laughed. "And it's my fault."

"It is not," Jason told her, pulling Kim into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his torso, allowing tears to fall. He let her cry for a few moments. They may not have seen each other all that often, but Kim had always been like his little sister, and right now she needed him to just be there, but he wanted details. As her crying seemed to calm, he pushed her back away from him slightly, holding onto her biceps with his hands. "Tell me what happened," he commanded.

"Nothing happened," Kimberly told him stubbornly. Jason just raised an eyebrow at her. "Tommy felt he was protecting all of us by pulling away," she added, pulling free of him and whipping her eyes.

"Bullshit," Jason swore, "I knew him better than that, and I know you better than to believe that. What happened?"

"If you know already," she stated, glaring at him, "why do you need to ask?"

"Because I need to hear it, and because you need to talk about it. He pulled away because he didn't want to get hurt again," Jason stated, hitting the punching bag again, but harder. "The letter?" Kimberly didn't answer, but nodded. "I can't say I blame him for that," Jason told her, landing another punch on the bag.

"I know," Kimberly whispered. "I've known, I guess, technically since I was seventeen," she stated, although there was a slight laugh in her voice. "He only told me because he knew I'd forget. And because I made him," she added.

"He could never deny you what you wanted," Jason confirmed. While Kim often got her way with all of them, Jason knew, if he really wanted to, he could tell her no. So could the others. Except Tommy. He loved her, and always had. There was no way he would deny her answers. "You cornered him?"

"I took advantage of him," she stated with a bit of a laugh, remembering how confused he was that night. "Here he was, twenty seven years old, and lusting after a seventeen year old. I saw it in his eyes. The way he watched me. So I used it to find out," Kim stated, "what I already suspected."

"You took advantage of a grown man," Jason laughed, shaking his head. Kim bit her lip and nodded, a tiny innocent smile on her face. "You are dangerous," he told her. "So what did he say exactly?"

"He never came out and said it, but when I broke up with him, it kind of left scars. And I hurt both of us. I needed him as badly as he needed me. Difference was, I let myself rely on everyone else," she explained.

"And Tommy choose isolation," Jason finished for her. "He told himself it was to protect those of us who didn't have power," he added.

"Which in actuality, for a while, it did," Kim agreed, nodding.

"But it was also to protect himself?" Jason asked her, and Kim nodded again. "Well, like I said, I can't say I blame him. I kind of did the same."

"When?" Kimberly asked him, astounded. This was news to her.

"When Trini stopped talking to me," Jason told her, running his hand over the back of his head and grimacing. He peeked over at Kim through one eye. "It wasn't too long after you sent Tommy that letter. Not talking to Trini hurt because I loved her so much. And I figured it would hurt just as bad if anyone else decided to stop talking to me too, so I didn't try to stay in contact with Tanya, Adam, Rocky, or Kat after I lost the gold ranger powers. But I couldn't bring myself to lose you, Zack, Billy, or Tommy at that point, since I'd already lost Trini. The charity match, after we were abducted by Divatox?" he paused, making sure she knew what he was talking about. Kim was watching him and nodded. "That was one of the last times I had contact with the other Zeo rangers for a while. And you were in Florida, Zack was still in Switzerland, and Billy was off on Aquitar. Tommy was busy being a ranger. Sure we all wrote letters, and there were phone calls, but I already knew it hurt to loose people. So when Tommy stopped replying, I didn't force the issue. I just let him go."

"Jase," Kim stated, placing her hand on his shoulder. He'd never told her what it had been like for him in those few years after losing his powers, not by choice.

"Did Trini ever tell you why she broke up with me right when we'd started dating?" Jason asked her, and Kim shook her head in the negative, casting her eyes to the ground. "I thought maybe we weren't ready yet," Jason admitted, staring out into the distance over Kim's. "I knew immediately, that night when I'd first kissed her, that I loved her, and that I always would. She was everything I'd ever needed in a woman, Kim. She was strong, and brave, and didn't take my shit. She was there when I had a breakdown right after we got to the Peace Conference. Did you know I almost left and came back to Angel Grove?" Kim didn't answer, but took Jason's hand in her own. He needed to say these things. She wouldn't interrupt him. "I had nightmares daily that Rita had won. I didn't trust that Tommy and Rocky would take care of things without me. It was Trini who talked sense into me. It was Trini who was always there; who stood with me through everything. I thought for a while that nothing scared her. But she told me, the day we got back together," he stated, hearing a creak behind him. He assumed it was the movement of the punching bag swaying slightly still beside him. Kim looked over his shoulder at the sound. "She was afraid to hurt the way you and Tommy were hurting. She loved me just as much as I loved her, maybe more," Jason continued. "But if you and Tommy, who we all knew were destined to be together, couldn't make it, what chance did the rest of us have?"

"Destined?" Tommy's voice reached Jason, causing him to jump. The creak had been the back yard gate opening. Behind Jason, Tommy, Trini, Aisha, and Tanya stood, watching Kim and earth's first red ranger, the dino thunder team having dropped them off. They'd heard voices in the back yard and assumed everyone was outside. However, for once, Jason ignored Tommy as he turned around. His eyes landed on Trini. How much had she heard? She met his gaze, and a small smile pulled the edges of her mouth upward. Her eyes were wet as she stepped towards him, and Jason copied her motion until they were only a few inches apart.

"I shouldn't have let you go," Jason whispered to her, and Trini nodded, still smiling. She wrapped her arms around him in the first real contact they'd had since she'd regressed and lost her memories of their relationship. He hugged her back. It was what he needed. "I… I'm afraid to lose you again," he admitted.

"You won't," Trini assured him. "If anyone can talk sense into you, it's me right?" she asked, her eyes laughing. "Billy will fix this," she assured him. "I won't let him fail, because I want to love you. I want our future," she told him.

"You do?" Jason asked her, disbelief in his tone and his expression. He didn't notice Tanya coax Aisha into the house, or that Kim had led Tommy back out into the front yard to give him and Trini some privacy, presumably to answer Tommy's question (Kim was definitely more equipped to handle that). Not that anything was going to happen. She was still fifteen.

"I didn't know yesterday," Trini admitted, still hugging Jason tightly. "I mean, yeah, I guessed that I would love you, because we're married and there's Tyler, but I didn't know I'd want to love you. I heard what you said. All of it," Trini told him, stepping backwards a bit so she could see his face. "I don't think I've ever wanted anything else more," she added. "Kim and Tommy may be destined to be together, but I think," she continued, pausing and looking up at him, "I think we are too," she added, and Jason's face broke out into a huge smile. He'd been terrified, as much as he wouldn't admit it, that Trini wouldn't love him anymore, or wouldn't want to after she'd been reminded of a time when they'd just been friends. There had never been an instant spark between them, and if she remembered that, would she have still wanted to be his wife when she'd gotten back to normal. Did she believe that true love was only real if it was instant? And now he knew that Trini understood that their love was one that needed to grow over time, but that didn't make it any less real.

"God, I wish I could kiss you," Jason laughed, letting their contact break completely and rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. He needed the distance, because being with her, seeing her just a little younger than she was when he'd first started loving her as more than a sister, made him feel like he was that hot headed teenager with attitude again. And he didn't trust himself not to act.

"Sorry," Trini laughed. "I don't think I'm quite ready for that just yet," she added.

"Friday," Jason stated, with a laugh of his own.

"Friday," Trini confirmed, nodding. "Let's go join the others?"

"Sure," Jason told her, wrapping his arm over her shoulder like he would have done when they were both fifteen years old. "You learn anything interesting today?" he added, their topic of conversation shifting.

"Yeah, but you're going to have to show me how to charge a cell phone," Trini laughed, allowing herself to be steered into the house.

* * *

Trent, Kira, and Ethan led a very sleepy and reluctant Connor across a gravel parking lot early the next morning. Following the day spent at Cyberspace, the four real dino thunder teens had dropped off the other regressed individuals and then gone home to their respective houses. Ethan felt that he had a strong enough grasp on his life that he could return to his home and face his parents. Still, it had been pushing midnight by the time they'd dropped everyone off, and therefore they were all pretty tired, although Connor was definitely dragging much more than the other three.

"So, Ethan," Trent asked, his arm slung over Kira's shoulder. His girlfriend wore a pair of jean shorts and a yellow and grey striped tank top. Her hair was done in a long braid and the athletic shoes on her feet indicated she was ready for a day that involved quite a bit of walking. Trent's outfit of grey cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, and running shoes mimicked hers. Connor and Ethan were each dressed similarly, although they were adorned in primarily red and blue respectively. "How'd last night with your parents go?"

"Not horribly," the slightly younger than he was supposed to be teenager replied with a wry smile on his face. "They were asleep when I got in last night. But mom did mention I was quieter this morning then I'd been in a while."

"Well, you definitely changed quite a bit over the last few months," Kira told him, using the hand that didn't have Trent's arm draped across the shoulder to pat Ethan on the arm. He looked at her with a slightly puzzled expression. "In a good way," Kira assured him, and Ethan laughed.

"I guess that must be it," Ethan stated, shaking his head slightly. "I overheard dad tell mom that I must still be bummed about MIT," he added, with a frown. "I don't get it. Ever since Connor told me Monday night that I'm going to MIT, I've been ecstatic. Why would I be bummed?"

Kira looked at him and blinked a couple of times. As the words fell out of his mouth, she realized exactly how much Ethan, and in fact, all four of the other Dino Thunder rangers, had changed since they bonded to their dino gems. They were definitely not the same people they'd been at the beginning or even the middle of the school year. But although, logically, Kira knew that Ethan's question was innocent, and that based on the consequences of the evil chair of doom, there was no way Ethan could really understand the ramifications of his question, she was hurt. Clearly, so was Connor, as the red clad teenager made an irritated sound and pushed past his three teammates, putting distance between him. Trent caught sight of a glare on Connor's face and sighed, squeezing Kira around the shoulder a bit tighter, trying to comfort her.

"What'd I do?" Ethan asked, clearly confused by Kira and Connor's reaction to his question. Kira sighed and shook her head, while Trent put a sad smile on his face.

"It's not about going to MIT that you've been bummed about," he explained to the former blue ranger. "It's the distance."

"I'm not afraid of traveling across the country," Ethan retorted, clearly not understanding what Trent was trying to tell him.

"No dumbass," Kira started, rolling her eyes. Her volume was a bit louder than she had intended, but she ignored the looks from several other people in the parking lot they were walking through. She turned her head to see Connor sitting on a bench up ahead outside what appeared to be ticket sales. Kira sighed, and tried to soften her expression. "You're bummed about the distance away from all of us."

"Oh," Ethan replied, simply. He cast his gaze down towards his feet.

"Yeah," Kira replied. "But," she amended. "It's alright. Back then, or I guess now for you, I wouldn't have thought twice about moving away and starting a music career. The things we went through together made us stronger, and they made our bonds stronger. You just haven't gone through them yet," she told him.

"I guess," Ethan stated. "Actually," he added, "sounds like we've become a family. I kind of like the idea of that kind of change."

"I'm glad," Kira replied, as the former yellow, white and blue rangers finally caught up with Connor, who was still glaring at Ethan. "Connor, lighten up," Kira laughed. "He doesn't fully understand how things have changed and that he's now your best friend," she added.

"Best friend?" Ethan questioned, although there was mocking in his voice. For a moment his personality shifted to that of the Ethan they recognized, rather than the shyer, geekier, computer nerd he'd been early on as the blue ranger. Connor's glare deepened. "Now that is a change that I like," Ethan laughed, a smirk on his face as he looked at Connor. The former red ranger's glare soften as he reluctantly let himself smile and the tension between the members of the group started to die away. Not remembering wasn't Ethan's fault, and he wasn't the only one who had done some major changing since they'd first unknowingly bonded with their gems.

"Speaking of change," Trent stated. "Anyone notice Kim's been acting a bit weird?"

"She's stressed out. I mean, who wouldn't be with the way things are? Her boyfriend and some of her best friends have been regressed by over ten years," Kira told him, keeping her voice relatively low so they wouldn't be over heard. "I think she's doing remarkably well considering."

"You mean, considering Adam, Rocky, and Jason had a slight mental breakdown and enjoyed a drunken spree around town," Trent laughed. He purposely left out the fact that they'd been morphed to avoid being overheard. The area where they were was starting to fill up with people and it was possible that their conversation could be picked up by outsiders.

"Yeah, there's that," Kira laughed, and Ethan did too. Mentally, he didn't really know the three adult former rangers, but the idea that three supposedly grown men had gotten drunk and then wandered around town in morph was highly entertaining. "Speaking of that, Cassidy texted me last night asking where we," she indicated herself and Trent, "were and who the green one was."

"Seriously?" Trent asked her, his eyes widening. "Are they that dumb? I mean, they know what we looked like. Can they not tell the difference in the uniforms?"

Ethan slapped his forehead, while Connor smirked. Kira giggled and shook her head. "Apparently not. I told her that you and I were off saving China and we'd sent their green back to save Reefside from a plague of dirty diapers," Kira explained. The three guys started laughing.

"I don't even think I want to know how he got himself into that mess," Connor stated, fighting a yawn.

"She buy it?" Trent asked Kira, who nodded.

"I took pity on her after a few moments and told her I had absolutely no idea who the four individuals were seeing as our abilities are still gone. She finally accepted it."

"Well, that's a relief," Connor stated, yawning again and stretching. "On another note," he began, "any idea why Kim had us meet here so early?"

"Because I wanted the kids to see the animals before it gets too hot," Kim's voice reached them. The four teenagers looked up to see the rest of the former rangers, and the three ranger offspring, walking towards them. Everyone was dressed for a day of physical activity in their respective ranger colors. Jason carried Tyler on his shoulders, while Aisha and Tanya each had one of Katie's small hands in their own and they were swinging her in the air. Rocky wore Luke in a baby carrier on his chest.

"Which kids?" Zack laughed, breaking the conversation he'd been having with Trini and Tommy.

"Ha ha," Trini stated, shoving her older friend slightly. "Real funny Zack," she added, rolling her eyes. Tommy glared at him, while Jason joined Zack's laughter at the regressed rangers' expense.

"Yeah, but did you have to tell us to be here a half hour before they even opened?" Connor whined, ignoring the glare exchange between Tommy, Trini, and Zack.

"Wait?" Rocky stated, looking confused and slightly hurt. He glanced around at the small crowd that was slowly gathering outside of the zoo. Sure enough, people were buying tickets, renting strollers and wagons, or purchasing overpriced souvenirs and food, but no one was entering through the zoo's gates. He turned his gaze to Kimberly, his eyes showing he was slightly betrayed. "I thought you said they opened at nine."

"Clearly based on the fact that it's already nine fifty," Kimberly retorted, "telling everyone to be ready to leave and get to the zoo by nine thirty was the smart thing to do," she laughed. "Otherwise we'd have been here later than opening, rather than before it."

"She has a point," Trini stated. "Some people are late for everything," she added with a giggle, and everyone looked at Tommy, who blushed and looked down at his feet.

"Please tell me that's something that does change," the fifteen year old pleaded, running his hand over his face.

"Sorry dude," Connor told him, slinging his arm over Tommy's shoulder. "You will forever be late to everything," the most recent red ranger added in to the younger teenager.

"Great," Tommy retorted rolling his eyes. He grunted slightly, as Katie escaped from her mother and aunt and ran directly into him, demanding to be carried on her uncky ranger's shoulders like Tyler was. Tommy willingly obliged.

"Alright," Jason stated, lifting Tyler off his own shoulders and onto Zack's, "Zack, watch the kids while we get tickets," he stated.

Zack snickered and shook his head. "I repeat, which ones?"

"Less people in line would be a good thing. Keep an eye on Tanya, Tommy, Trini, and Aisha, as well," Adam told him as Rocky pulled Luke out of his baby carrier. Surprisingly, Aisha reached forward to take the infant from him, and Rocky gave her a small smile as he handed their son off to his regressed mother before following the Dino Thunder teens, Kim, Jason, and Adam into line at the ticket booth.

"I do not need a baby sitter, you know," Aisha called after Rocky who laughed and shook his head, waving her off.

"Are you sure of that?" Zack asked her with a smirk on his face. Aisha glared at him playfully. Trini shook her head.

"You were the ones who thought making an appearance in costume would be a good idea, while drunk, I might add," his only regressed female teammate replied. Her son clung to her hand and extending it as far as he could. He wasn't playing shy, rather just fooling around. "Could have had me fooled on who actually needs the babysitter," she added, placing her free hand on her hip and cocking her head at him. She wrinkled her nose as she smiled. For his part, Zack looked dumb founded.

"She has a good point you know," Tommy told him, nudging Zack with his elbow, Katie bouncing on his shoulders. The two and a half year old giggled happily. "Even I know you shouldn't argue with yellows and I've only been on the team a week," he told earth's first black ranger.

"You're all against me," Zack murmured, shaking his head.

"Of course we are," Tanya told him, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We're not little kids, you know. We're younger than we're supposed to be, but we're all still the same age as when we were active."

Kira nodded. "Kinda forced to grow up pretty quickly when the world depends on you," the most recent yellow ranger added, before turning to Connor, "Although in some cases you don't quite grow up," she added and Connor shot her a look, rolling his eyes.

"Growing up is mandatory, maturing is optional," he told her, swooping Tyler up into his arms and hanging the boy upside down so that his red tyrannosaurus t-shirt fell down over his face. The little boy instantly starting giggling.

"Well said," Jason's voice reached him as he returned, three tickets in his hand. He eyed Connor for a moment. "He just ate breakfast, so if he pukes on you, it's your fault," the first red ranger told the most recent. Connor gave a disgusted look in return and turned the boy right side up, much to the almost four year old's chagrin. Jason took the disgruntled boy away from the teenager and set him on the ground, handing his regressed wife her ticket. "In a way you guys are lucky, reliving your childhood."

"Yeah," Trini told him, rolling her eyes, "because I feel real lucky right now Jason. I'm married and have a kid at fifteen. I don't remember who most of the people here are, despite the fact that they're my friends."

Jason opened his mouth to retaliate, only to have Adam's hand placed over it, cutting him off. "Jason, it's not worth arguing with a yellow. Fifteen or not, she'll win," Trini stated.

"I picked a smart one," Tanya laughed, causing Adam's eyes to widen and his mouth to fall open slightly, his hands both dropping down to his sides as his face flushed red. Tanya wrapped her arm around his middle causing Adam to flush a deeper red and Jason, Zack, and Rocky, who came up behind him, to raise their eyebrows and laugh at him. The second black ranger carefully extricated himself from Tanya's embrace, giving her a pointed look. "You're no fun," she told him, pouting slightly.

"You're eighteen!" he reminded her, shaking his head and handing the yellow clad teenager one of the two tickets he was holding.

"Everyone ready?" Kim asked as she joined the group, breaking up the glaring contest between Adam and his regressed fiancé. Adam sighed and Tanya turned cheerfully to give her attention to Kim and nodded.

"See aminals, An Kim?" Katie asked from her seat on Tommy's shoulders. When Kimberly nodded, the toddler clapped her hands. Rocky took Luke back from Aisha, settling him into the carrier on his chest, as the rest of the zoo tickets were divvied out and the group headed into the zoological park, breaking off into smaller groups and chatting randomly.

The morning at the zoo ended up being the most normal thing that could have occurred for the group of them, considering the abnormal circumstances they found themselves in. Trini spent a lot of time with Tyler and with Jason, seemingly trying to get to know her son better, and get a better grasp on who one of her best friends had actually become. Tanya teased Adam just about every chance she could, which was amusing, especially to Kira. The former black and green ranger spent a good portion of the morning muttering about vengeance on yellow rangers, although Zack assured him that in his heart he knew he'd never get it.

Even Kim was able to relax a bit and was enjoying looking at all of the animals with Tommy by her side. She'd talked to him quite a bit the evening before. Jason's use of the term destined had not be forgotten by the teenager, although Kim had never restated it. She'd reassured him that she'd always loved him, even during the time they were separated, and there seemed to be something else she wanted to say, but didn't. However, Tommy had done his best to relax about things, reminding himself that while he was currently only fifteen, in reality he was older and words like destiny and Kimberly probably weren't that scary to his adult self. And he also reminded himself that although things were most certainly strange and confusing for him, Kim was probably freaking out too, despite the fact that she kept it hidden from him. He'd already decided he would do everything in his power to help keep her calm, even if that meant not showing how distressed by everything he actually was. And it seemed to work, because they both had a relatively uneventful morning, just being in each other's company.

The only sour atmosphere in the group that morning seemed to be coming from Rocky, although, unknown to several individuals, he had a good reason why. Although Aisha had made efforts all morning with Katie and with Luke, she'd still managed to avoid Rocky all together. To make matters worse, she'd spent a great deal of the morning with Connor and Ethan, much to Rocky's annoyance. When he and Aisha had first started dating, Rocky hadn't even been consciously aware of Connor's existence. Now, however, he knew there had been an attraction between the two when they were the same age the first time around, and he couldn't help but fear that attraction at the moment, when there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

"Bro, you look like you've swallowed a lemon," Zack told him, coming up behind him. Rocky was sitting at a table near a concession stand leaning forward, and resting his elbows on his knees. He was glaring in the direction of the penguin house. Outside the building, Kim held Luke and was pointing at some of the penguins who were swimming through the small pool in front. Beside her, Trini knelt so she was eye level with Tyler, who was talking animatedly at his mother. The group had just finished lunch, but Jason and Tommy were in line grabbing an ice cream cones; Tanya, Kira, Adam, Ethan, and Trent had gone off in search of the restrooms, and Rocky had watched as Aisha and Connor had taken an insistent Katie into the penguin house alone. "What's up?"

"She likes him," Rocky muttered darkly. He wasn't surprised. Aisha didn't remember being married to him, or even loving him. As far as her memory was concerned, she and Rocky were best friends, almost brother and sister. To make matters worse, she believed she was sixteen, which was a hell of a lot closer to Connor's eighteen than his twenty eight.

"Who likes who?" Zack replied, completely bewildered.

"Connor's in the penguin house with Katie and Aisha," Rocky lamented, turning around so that his back was to the building. If he didn't look at it, he could make it go away. Zack frowned at him.

"Katie likes Connor?" Zack stated. "I know you're protective of her and all, but I think the seventeen year age difference is enough to keep her safe," he laughed, and Rocky glared at him. "Seriously? Aisha? No way," he added. "She's way too smart for him," he added.

"Didn't stop her from making out with him in ninety five," Rocky muttered, holding his head in his hands, elbows propped up onto the table. "Not that she remembers doing that," he added.

"Ouch," Zack stated, giving the second red ranger a sympathetic look as his brain registered what Rocky was telling him. For a brief moment he'd wanted to argue that Connor wouldn't even have been in the double digits in ninety five. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to say, looking in the direction that Rocky had indicated his regressed wife and the dino thunder red ranger had gone, as if staring long enough would give him insight to what exactly was going on. "Connor remembers though," he stated, and Rocky glared deeper at him. "Oh, come on," he laughed at the former ranger's misery. "Surely even Connor is not that stupid. He knows you and Aisha are married. He wouldn't do anything on purpose. Had Tommy told him you and Aisha ended up together when he came to the past?"

"No," Rocky admitted, remember how freaked out and apologetic the most recent red ranger had been when he'd realized that Aisha would end up married to Rocky, even if neither Aisha nor Rocky knew why at the time. Still, the part of him that always wondered exactly how he'd gotten Aisha, that mutinous part of himself that said he didn't deserve her, was roaring in a jealous rage at the idea that Aisha could potentially be flirting with Connor at that very moment.

"Then I'm positive you have absolutely nothing to be worried about," Zack told him, "Right Adam?" he asked as his own power successor came up to join them. Jason and Tommy were following each licking an ice cream cone. The others had apparently joined Kim and Trini with the two small boys and were going into the penguin house as well, which was probably a good thing as it meant, for Rocky's mental sanity, that Connor and Aisha were not alone together, save a two and a half year old chaperone.

"Right what?" Adam asked, raising his eyebrow and looking from Zack to Rocky who was still pouting. "What'd I miss?"

"Rocky thinks Connor is going to steal his wife," Zack explained. "I told him he's got nothing to worry about," Zack stated, when Jason looked wide eyed at Rocky, and Adam rolled his eyes. Tommy just looked confused.

"Well," Adam laughed, "Aisha did sort of form a crush on Connor when she about this age the first time they met." What he said caused Rocky to groan and lay his head on the table, on top of his folded arms. Jason looked surprised. "But I doubt Connor has forgotten the shiner you gave him, and that was just when you had an unreciprocated crush on her, not to mention were the size of rugrats," Adam told Rocky, placing his hand on his best friends shoulder. "You are so over reacting," he told his friend. "Connor may not be the brightest, but he would never do anything so malicious as to make advances on Aisha knowing she's your wife," he paused and considered his wording for a moment, "or that she will be," he amended.

"I know, but that doesn't stop her from having a crush," Rocky muttered.

"Aisha may not be comfortable being your wife," Jason told Rocky kindly, "but she wouldn't purposely try to hurt you either," he finished.

"See," Zack stated, "here they come now. Nothing to worry about," he added, nodding his head towards the two teenagers that were heading toward them. Aisha was quite a bit in front of Connor, and both teens looked worried. "Ok, maybe I spoke too soon." His brow furrowed into a frown, a look that was mirrored on the faces around him.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, immediately sensing something abnormal. Rocky whirled around to face the teenagers and knew instantly what the problem was. He was on his feet in a moment, both of his hands grasping hold of Aisha by the shoulders.

"Where is she?" Rocky demanded of his regressed wife. "Where's Katie?" His questions instantly caused panic in Adam, Zack, Jason, and Tommy who instantly began scanning the area with their eyes, as if expecting the small caramel skinned toddler to come out of wherever she was hiding.

"I… I don't know," Aisha managed to squeak out. "One minute she was there, I took my eyes off her for a second and she was just gone," she added, panic in her own voice, tears in her eyes.

Rocky's heart sunk into his stomach. As a parent, there is nothing worse than your child being missing. But on top of being a parent, Rocky was a former ranger. While the reason for Katie's disappearance could have been as simple as she'd wandered off, or even as bad as she'd been abducted by some human predator, a small part of him feared worse. That she'd been taken, not by some human being but by an evil alien or monster with the sole purpose of using the small child against him. What he'd feared, when they'd first arrived in Reefside four months before when Mesogog was still at large and the dino thunder teens still active, for several horrible moments was coming true in his mind. That his past as a power ranger made his children a target more so than anyone elses.

"Rocky," Adam stated, breaking his thoughts. "We'll find her," he hadn't even paused to hear Rocky's answer, but dashed past him, toward the penguin house. Apparently the same thoughts that were currently occupying Rocky's mind had taken hold in Adam's as well. Even Jason and Zack wore looks that clearly showed they were thinking the same thing. Was Katie still on Earth, let alone within the Reefside zoo.

"We thought maybe she'd come out here, to find you," Connor stated as he drew up beside Aisha and Rocky. Rocky's face paled as he released Aisha and ran his hands over his face, his mind not thinking straight. Tommy, Jason, and Zack had already departed the table area as well and were breaking off, searching for the little girl around the outside of the exhibit where Kim and Trini had been only minutes before.

"I swear, it was only a second," Aisha muttered, but Rocky wasn't listening. His heart was pounding, so that all he heard was the blood flowing in his ears. His little girl was missing. Was she being tortured right then for information no two year old would have the ability to know? That thought seemed to spur him out of his confusion, and he made to run toward the penguin house, stopping half way to turn several times on the spot, scanning everything and everyone with his eyes, hoping that something would give him some clue as to where the girl was.

"Do you see her?" he managed to call out to Tommy who was the closest of the search party to him. The teenager looked up, biting his lip and shaking his head in the negative. Rocky began to panic even more, about to spur himself on towards the penguin house. There was only one entrance and one exit, but that was only useful if she was in the clutches of a human. If it was something else that had his daughter, traditional entrances and exits would not be a hindrance.

"Rocky!" Kim's voice called out, and Rocky spun again, turning his head wildly to find the source of his friend's voice. For a moment he didn't process what he was seeing and kept turning desperately seeking. "Rocky," Kim called again, and this time he found her. The tension in his shoulders immediately slackened, as they fell forward. The former pink ranger was running towards him, a crying Katie held in her arms. Behind her, Trini carried Tyler, and Adam cradled Luke in his arms. The baby was fussing, but only because he didn't know why everyone seemed agitated. Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Tanya followed behind them. "I've got her," she called out to him. "She's alright, just scared," Kim explained as Rocky reached them, and she handed the toddler to her father. Everyone else raced over.

"What happened?" Jason asked, reaching instinctively for Tyler. If one of the kids could go missing, so could the others. Trini, sensing his agitation, didn't hesitate, but handed the nearly four year old to his father. Tyler, clearly realizing that something wasn't right, wrapped his arms around Jason's neck tightly.

"It was really crowded in there," Kim explained, "she must have gotten separated from Connor and Aisha. We found her huddled in a corner, sobbing because she couldn't find 'mommy'," she added in, rubbing Katie's back, even as Rocky bounced her in his arms, hushing her. Now that Rocky had her, the toddler was beginning to calm down. "She wasn't alone more than a few minutes," Kim stated.

"Adam came in almost as soon as we found her and told us that Connor and Aisha had come out without her," Trent told Rocky. The man nodded his understanding and turned around, angling his face up toward the sky as he bounced Katie and rubbed her back, listening to her sobs die away. He sent a silent thanks to the morphing grid for protecting his child, or at least that what he felt had happened. Even though it had only been minutes, he knew better than most of the population what could go wrong in minutes.

Rocky didn't speak to anyone for a few moments, just listening to the sounds of his daughter in his arms. It gave him some comfort, and if he admitted it, he needed it. He wasn't sure he could have named a scarier moment in his life, and he was pretty sure he'd had some bad ones, even as recently as within the last few months. But thinking Katie had been abducted was definitely the worst. Finally, when she was completely quiet, Rocky turned and handed her to a stunned Adam, who quickly had to balance both of the DeSantos children in his arms. Adam blinked a few times, caught off guard as he watched, Rocky, red faced, round on the teenage dark skinned yellow ranger who looked like she was about to collapse into hysterics.

"Why the hell would you take your eyes off her?" Rocky screamed, actually attracting the attention of many of the other zoo guests. He was glaring so hard at Aisha, it seemed as if he was trying to drill holes through her.

"Rocky!" Kim exclaimed, taken aback by her friend's tone. "Katie's fine, it was an accident," she continued, stepping forward and grabbing Rocky by the shoulder. He shook her off violently, and she stumbled backward, rolling her arms to keep her balance.

"Hey!" Tommy exclaimed, now glaring at Rocky, and rushing to Kim's side.

"I didn't mean to," Aisha choked out. "I just turned away for a moment!"

"She's two years old!" Rocky retaliated. "What kind of a mother takes their eyes off a two year old?"

"I'm not her mother!" Aisha yelled back, the tears she'd been fighting finally falling and running down her cheeks. "I never asked to be!" she added. "I don't want to be!" she added. "I'm sixteen!"

"Yeah," Rocky growled. "And I can think of things that might be more important to you than Katie," he added, his eyes briefly flashing to Connor who was still standing beside her.

"Rocky!" Adam shouted, but with the two children in his arms, there wasn't a whole lot he could do to interfere. Connor, however, narrowed his gaze into a glare at Rocky, and stepped slightly in front of the regressed teenager.

"No way!" Connor stated. "You know that's not true!"

"Oh is it?" Rocky shouted. "She's been lusting after you all day and you haven't done a damn thing to stop it!" He had stepped closer towards Connor and balled both of his hands into fists. Normally easy going, Connor knew that Rocky was only speaking out of terror for Katie, and desperation to have the woman he loved return his affection. Still, he wasn't going to back down. He opened his mouth to retort.

"Rocky DeSantos! You are such an idiot!" Aisha cut him off, glaring at her husband.

"I am, am I?" he shouted, rounding back on Aisha.

"Yes!" She yelled, turning on her heels and suddenly storming off before anyone could stop her. Everyone was so stunned by what had just occurred, that it didn't even register that Aisha had left, until Rocky threw his hands up in the air.

"Fine! Go! See if I care!" he shouted after her and then turned in the opposite direction and disappearing into the crowd that had stopped to watch the argument.

They all watched him, completely startled and confused, as life around them all seemed to start up again. "What the hell just happened?" Jason asked, completely astounded at the scene he'd just witnessed. It was as if the bubble they'd been inside through the entire fight had just popped. Everywhere people were resuming their lives, but the group of former rangers was down by two individuals.

"Um… I'd say the stress of everything has finally gotten the better of those two," Kira stated, intertwining her fingers behind her back as she fidgeted where she stood.

"It was only a matter of time before they both cracked, I suppose," Kimberly stated, sighing.

"Rocky can be a bit of a hot head when it comes to Aisha," Adam agreed.

"You know why she's acting like this, don't you?" Kim asked him. Aisha and Rocky's only real present teammates sort of shut out the rest of the group as they discussed the argument that had just occurred. Adam smirked and nodded.

"She likes him. She likes him, likes the idea that they're together, and that is scaring the crap out of her because she thinks that Rocky, well, sixteen year old Rocky could never like her back. She's scared this future for her is all a lie," Adam stated, rolling his eyes. "Those two are going to be the death of me."

Kim allowed a small smile to play on her face as she nodded agreement, still ignoring the others around them. "I suppose we should go after them. They really do need to talk to each other," she added and Adam nodded his agreement. "Any idea where they might have gone?"

Adam frowned and looked around. Aisha and Rocky had both done pretty good jobs of disappearing. There was no trace of either of them. Adam sighed and began to shake his head no before he caught sight of pole supporting arrows pointing in the direction of various animal exhibits. A dark laugh escaped him as he changed his head shake to a nod. "I might have a small clue," he stated.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jason interjected, as he and everyone else looked at the sign in front of them.

"Morphing grid strikes again," Zack snorted. While the sign in front listed several different exhibits, there was only one pointing in the direction Aisha had stormed off in and only one pointing towards the path Rocky had taken.

"Anyone up for visiting the grizzly bears or the gorillas?" Kim laughed, taking Luke from Adam's arms. "Bet you anything it only takes a few minutes to find them both."

* * *

I promise, I will be tackling Aisha and Rocky's relationship in the next few chapters. Why Rocky blew up should be easily understandable, especially if you read Chronology Conundrum. Adam and Kim have it pretty much right on why Aisha reacted the way she did. But I plan to explore how they went from teenagers just beginning to show inklings of affect for one another, to madly deeply passionately in love with one another.

Again, hope you enjoyed,

Fateless Wanderer


	21. Chapter 21

It was only two months this time. And the great news is, I'm officially on summer break, so while I'll make no definitive promises, I hope to get the ball rolling on several more chapters over the course of the summer.

Anyway, not big long author's note for this one. I hope if you've stuck with me, you enjoy this. Thus far, it is probably my baby of the entire story.

* * *

It hadn't taken more than five minutes for Adam to find Rocky. All he'd had to do was follow the signs to the gorilla exhibit. Despite the fact that on a warm July afternoon the the zoo was crowded, Rocky stood alone, arms crossed over his chest, his brow furrowed as he leaned against the rock wall where it met the glass that surrounded the gorilla enclosure. No one was closer than five feet away from him, a consequence of the fact that he gave off a distinct "don't fuck with me" atmosphere. Adam watched as several parents steered their children around him to look at the gorillas, eyeing him cautiously as they passed, almost as if he was one of the great apes that had escaped its enclose and posed a threat to the citizens (an image that made Adam smirk slightly – if only they knew). The former red ranger stared into the enclosure, but Adam wasn't sure he actually saw anything.

After a few moments of watching the unmoving individual, Adam sighed and approached his best friend, coming up beside him crossing his own arms in front of him. He didn't look at Rocky, but stared into the enclosure, watching the gorillas. After a moment of silence, Rocky turned his head to glare and possibly tell off whomever had thought it was a good idea to invade the invisible bubble he'd created around himself. His glare narrowed even further when he realized who it was.

"How'd you even find me," Rocky growled, turning away from Adam again. The former black ranger rolled his eyes.

"Seriously?" was his only response, and his gaze didn't shift away from the animals. If he put too much pressure on his friend, he might bolt again, and Adam wasn't sure he'd be able to find him a second time, especially if he was purposely ignoring where his spirit had lead him. "Can't say I wouldn't have wandered off to the rainforest exhibit if I'd been as pissed off as you are," Adam told him, a dark smirk on his face. Rocky frowned, trying to piece together what Adam was telling him. He turned to face his friend and then looked back into the exhibit as if seeing it clearly for the first time since he'd arrived.

"Well," Rocky stated, exhaling sharply. "Shit," he added, a cold, although slightly amused smirk on his face. Apparently he hadn't even realized where he was, but had only stopped moving when instinct had told him to. Both men fell silent for a few moments. "Where are my kids?" Rocky finally interjected, suspicion of Adam rising as his friend remained quiet.

"Jason and Zack took them and everyone else to the aviary," was the only response he got.

"I left them with you," Rocky argued, trying to shift away from the real reason that Adam had tracked him down. Adam shrugged, not caring to give an answer and the two lapsed back into silence, watching the gorillas, as people still avoided them. Neither individual was shouting, but Rocky's clear agitation nor Adam's imposing demeanor seemed to have created a permanent shield from the outside world. It was a good five minutes, during which they'd watched one female gorilla chastise a young member of the group and chase him off from the baby climbing on her back, before Rocky spoke again. "Aren't you going to ask if I'm alright? That is why you're here, isn't it?"

"I know you're not," Adam told him simply. "You just experienced hell on earth for a parent. Why would you be alright?"

"Yeah," Rocky stated, nodding before going silent for a few moments. However, he didn't stay quiet long. "But Katie's alright. A bit scared, but she'll live," he added, his voice quiet.

"She never should have been scared in the first place. If she'd been with a responsible adult, she wouldn't have gotten lost. You wouldn't have had to go through the fear that she'd been kidnapped," Adam argued, his voice cold, leaving out exactly who it was that she may have been kidnapped by. Rocky would understand. The former black ranger wasn't looking at his friend. He continued to watch the gorillas, even as Rocky's brown furrowed into a deep glare again, and his attention shifted back to Adam.

"Now wait just a damn second," he growled. "Aisha's never been irresponsible!" The anger in his voice was evident. "She only took her eyes off Katie for a second. And she doesn't remember being an adult. It was an accident." Adam's shoulders shook with laughter, as he shook his head and turned to see Rocky glaring metaphorical lasers thought his skull. "You sick bastard," Rocky growled, realization dawning on him, while Adam wore an innocent look despite his laughter.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Adam replied, shifting his entire body away from the gorilla enclosure, as Rocky did the same, finally dropping his hands away from his chest and thrusting them into his pockets.

"Damn you and your reverse psychology. You're evil, you know that?"

"Hey, that was really only that one time, and I think you all fixed it," Adam stated with a chuckle and shrug.

"I'm beginning to doubt that," Rocky replied, eyeing the black ranger cautiously and searching for some sign that the sinister spell that had once made Adam threaten Katie and Luke's lives was still inflicting itself upon the former ranger. Adam smirked darkly, causing Rocky to shudder and roll his eyes, knowing Adam really was just fucking with him. "I hate you."

"No you don't," Adam reminded his best friend. "So, gorillas?"

"You said it yourself, you would have rushed off to the tree frogs," Rocky stated, and sighed. "It made sense. Acted on instinct, rather than forethought. I was so pissed, I couldn't think straight. I'm surprised I didn't mow anyone down and gotten myself arrested for assault."

"She touched a nerve," Adam confirmed, nodding. "But she didn't do it on purpose, and you know that. She doesn't like Connor, you know? Not in the way you think she does."

"You know just as well as I do, that she does," Rocky told Adam, a frown on his face.

"No, she doesn't," Adam confirmed. "Aisha didn't meet Connor until she was seventeen," he reminded Rocky. "And she pursued him then for one reason only," he added, causing Rocky to frown.

"What's that?" the former red ranger asked and Adam shook his head.

"If you don't know, it is definitely not my place to tell you," Adam explained. "But the point is, you really don't have anything to be jealous of."

Rocky's glare actually deepened at that statement. First, he was angry that Adam seemed to know something he wasn't willing to share, and second, Adam definitely didn't understand his current situation. Ok, so maybe he really didn't need to be jealous of Connor. But that didn't mean he didn't have anything to be jealous of.

"Real easy for you to say, Tanya's still fawning all over you," Rocky growled harshly, resulting in it being Adam's turn to glare.

"Oh really? You think I've got it so much better?" Adam hissed. "She doesn't mean any of it," he added. "She's teasing me. She's acting like an eighteen-year-old. She finds the situation and my discomfort amusing. If I showed the least bit of interest in her advances, she'd freak out and avoid me completely. At least Aisha's been honest with you."

"Tanya's teasing you?" Rocky asked, ignoring Adam's last point. The black clad man sighed and nodded, rubbing his head with his hand.

"I've known for a while she liked me back when we were kids, but she's acting like I'm eighteen again too, and it makes me feel that way. It's not fun. She doesn't see me as I am now. To her I'm just teenage Adam in a grown up's body. And it's actually really uncomfortable. Like I really am the shy teenager she believes I am. Being near her is hard because I loved her then. I wanted her then. It's hard to remember I'm an adult, that I can take charge. I'm going to fuck up, Rocky. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. But if we don't fix this soon, I'm going to act. And then she's going to freak out and I'm going be thanking Zordon that by some grace she only went back to eighteen and she's still actually an adult and there won't be any legal ramifications of what I'll do. But our relationship will be damaged. I won't be able to forgive myself for it," Adam told him, barely taking a break in his tirade. "So, please, tell me again how you have it worse. In a few days Billy will be here. He'll find a way to fix this and Aisha will be back to normal and aside from missing their mother for a few days, you and the kids will be ok."

"Adam," Rocky began, unsure where to even begin. He had no idea how much Adam had been struggling over the last two days. He'd caught his friend watching the teenage ranger with a little too much attention, but he'd figured it was simply because he missed his fiancé, not because he was lusting after the girl.

"This is a fucked up situation all around. Jason and Trini weren't even involved in chaos again and now look? She's fifteen and barely able to stand being around Tommy because she's slightly convinced he's going to summon the Dragonzord and attempt to kill us all. And Kim and Tommy just got back together! After almost a decade. Kim's pretending she's fine, but really? The last insanity almost killed her. She doesn't deserve this anymore than the rest of us do. Not even Tommy deserves this. He's confused as hell, can't you see?" He paused a moment, and Rocky nodded. "So you've got to learn to deal a bit better. You can't fly off the handle at her. Aisha's freaked out enough."

"How do I even make it better?" Rocky finally asked after a moment. "How can I make her less freaked out? I feel so helpless," he added. "She's my wife, doesn't matter that she's regressed. I'm supposed to protect her."

"You've really got to talk to her," Adam stated, with a sigh. Rocky attempted to interrupt, but earth's second black ranger shook his head. "Don't say you have. You haven't tried hard enough. You've got to get her to understand how she went from Aisha Campbell to Aisha DeSantos. If she knew, if it wasn't this drastic sudden change she thinks it is, she'll handle things so much better."

"How can you be sure?" Rocky stated, sighing and shaking his head.

"Because she's my best friend too, dumb ass," Adam laughed sarcastically. "Seriously, what would you two do without me?" he asked, a smirk on his features.

Rocky rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "Where is she anyway?" he asked the former black ranger, who raised an eyebrow and nodded back over his shoulder at the gorillas. Rocky laughed sarcastically. "Bears?"

"My best guess," Adam answered. "Kim went after her," he added. "You ready to go talk to her? The kids will be fine without you for a bit longer."

"Might as well, but I'd rather face Goldar," he added in.

"We all would," Adam assured him with a smirk, and motioned with his head for Rocky to lead the way, leaving the great apes behind.

* * *

She stood quietly, leaning forward on a wooden railing designed to keep people out of the exhibit. The railing was mounted to a stone wall, though whether it was real rock, or concrete poured and shaped to look like it, she wasn't sure. In addition to the wall, there were other barriers. The exhibit was actually a minimum of thirty feet down below, meaning her eyes gazed down past her arms folded on the railing. Within the exhibit was a pool of water, surrounded on three sides by land. The fourth side of the pool butted up against the cliff wall that she and the other zoo patrons watched from. The pool was seemingly fed by a stream that ended in a small waterfall, emanating from the back of the enclosure, uphill. The stream was bridged by a giant fallen 'tree'. All around her, parents and their children oohed and aahed at the antics of the two large grizzly bears in the enclosure. One of the bears swam in the pool, paddling to the other side where it touched it nose to the second bear who remained on land, before it turned and swam in the opposite direction. Its companion followed, walking along the bank, crossing the tree bridge to reach the far side just after the swimming bear. Once again the two bears touched snouts before the water bound bear reared onto its hind legs sending a spray of water playfully at the second bear. The first swiped at the land bear, attempting to catch it and bring it into the water. Aisha grinned in spite of herself, watching the antics. The first bear climbed out of the water, and circled the second, before then walking slowly toward it, forcing the second bear to back into the water. As soon as both sets of four paws hit water, the first bear, tackled the second resulting in a splashing wrestling contest in the shallows of the pool. Aisha smiled again and tucked a loose braid behind her ear. Watching them was calming her temper down.

"Any idea why you came here of all places?" a familiar voice reached her ears, and Aisha looked up, slightly startled. "You passed at least six other animal exhibits on your way," Kimberly added, coming up beside the teenager. She would know, she'd passed each of them as well, though she hadn't even paused to check if Aisha was there. Kim had known exactly where she'd find the former yellow ranger. The pink clad woman gave Aisha a gentle smile, then looked out at the bears who were still splashing in the water.

Aisha frowned. She had almost stopped before reaching the bears as she charged through the zoo, but something had egged her on. It wasn't until she'd reached the railing that she'd been able to catch her breath and start to calm herself down. With everything she'd been through, the fact that two giant wrestling bears was a calming presence was still a bit concerning and odd. "There's a reason?"

Kimberly grinned and nodded. "In about a year," Kim stated, clasping her hands in front of her as she leaned on the railing beside Aisha, "sorta," she amended, acknowledging that Aisha wasn't really sixteen, "you'll lose your powers, alongside the rest of us," she added, and Aisha looked alarmed. Kim's voice was low enough and the volume surrounding them was loud enough that there was very little risk in being over heard. "No more Griffin Thunderzord," Kim added. She didn't pause though. "But you'll get a new power, by finding the strength of the spirit animal that lives inside you. The ninja power we mentioned yesterday," she stated her eyes twinkling. Aisha frowned, thinking over what Kimberly was telling her. "Can you guess yours?" she ended with a giggle.

Aisha was quiet for a moment, she looked back at the two bears who had moved their wrestling match onto dry land. On occasion one would rear onto its back legs, attempting to tackle the other to the ground. Aisha could no longer tell which bear was the instigator. "A bear?" she finally asked, realizing what Kim was saying. She looked back at the older version of her best friend quizzically.

"Not that hard to figure out," Kim told her with a slight laugh.

"Everyone has one?" Aisha asked her, turning back to study the bears. She liked the idea. The bears were strong. They didn't take crap from anyone.

"I would assume so," Kimberly stated, her mind running over Tanya, Jason, Zack, and Trini as she contemplated what theirs might be. She wondered what the animal spirits would be for the Dino Thunder teens. Kat had used her crane coin, but she wondered if the second pink ranger had a spirit of her own. Kim looked up at the quizzical look on Aisha's face. "Oh! You just mean our team," she laughed, nodding. "I'm a crane, Tommy's a falcon, Billy's a wolf, Rocky's an ape, and Adam's a frog," Kimberly explained with a smile.

"A frog?" Aisha asked, gaping at the pink clad woman, amusement in her eyes. "Seriously? A frog?"

"Don't let him hear you. It was a sore spot for a while, but I think he's finally come to terms with it. It's only been about ten years since he's been in tune with the frog, so I think it's about time," Kimberly told her, laughing. Aisha smiled and shook her head, as both women lapsed back into silence watching the grizzly bears. Aisha had a definite new found respect for the animals. "You know, there was a time when we could tell each other anything," Kim started again after a few moments. "Or at least, I felt I could tell you anything."

"When did you start feeling that way?" Aisha stated with a nod. Kim wrapped on arm around the teenage girl's shoulder and led the way over to a nearby bench. They could still see the bear exhibit, but they weren't surrounded by people. She sat down first and patted the spot next to her, crossing her legs at the ankles and straightening them in front. Aisha sat down beside her, eyeing Kim cautiously.

"A long time ago, about twelve years or so," Kim giggled, "We were given an important job as rangers. There were four civilians who'd been captured by Rita and Zedd. They were in trouble and being held hostage in a cave," Kimberly explained, and Aisha smiled and blushed slightly, nodding. She remembered. "We sent two of our own in to save them. Our blue ranger removed a large snake that was threatening the civilians, while our yellow ranger at the time was able to teleport one of the civilians to safety and the other three ran out of the cave. Although powerless, they came to our aid against a horde of putties," Kimberly continued to remind the teenager. Aisha opened her mouth to say something, but Kim held up her hand and shook her head. Aisha let her continue. "With their help, we whipped the putties out, but the blue ranger still had not emerged from the cave. We found him inside, wrestling with the reptile, which caused his airway to become constricted. The only way to help him was to remove his helmet, but that meant revealing his, and ultimately our own identity to the three civilians who helped us. It was that day, knowing that she'd never tell anyone who I really was, that I knew I could trust Aisha Campbell with anything," Kimberly told her regressed friend. Aisha smiled, casting her gaze to her feet and nodding. "I hope you feel like you can trust me the same way," Kim encouraged her.

Aisha was quiet for a few moments as she pondered her friend's words. Aside from the fact that Kim was older, the woman clad in pink really was her best friend. And she was right. She'd always been able to talk to Kimberly about anything. Why should this be any different? Well, aside from the fact that Aisha wasn't really supposed to be sixteen, and this time the issue wasn't related to ranger business or stuff outside their group. This time it was about Rocky. And Kim was an adult, not a confused teenager. She bit her lip, hunched her shoulders, and began to kick her legs back and forth.

"You can tell me anything Aisha," Kim assured her, laying her hand on the teenage girl's shoulder. "You need to talk to someone," she added in, and Aisha sighed and nodded.

"I just," she began, choking on her words as they fumbled in her mouth. She was struggling to phrase how she felt and what was bothering her. She took a deep breath, deciding to start with something different. "Why does he even think I'd have a crush on Connor anyway?" Aisha asked, a bit of frustration and anger escaping along with her words.

Kim inhaled sharply and exhaled, thinking over where to begin. To normal people, it might be an easy question to answer, but they were former rangers. There was definitely no easy way to address this.

"Right to the complicated, stuff, huh 'Sha?" Kimberly laughed. "Alright, there's no real easy way to explain this, so try not to interrupt, ok?" Aisha nodded, keeping her eyes locked on her friend. "About four months ago, in the correct time, not four months in your past," Kim added in, clutching her own head and shaking it as she tried to figure out the best way to word things. Aisha snorted a laugh slightly at the former pink ranger's discomfort. "Glad you find this amusing," Kim stated flatly, before sighing. "Ok, so yeah, four months ago, Tommy – adult Tommy – Kira, Trent, Ethan, and Connor," she listed off on her fingers, "traveled back in time to Angel Grove in 1995," she stated.

"They did what?" Aisha burst in, then bowed her head as Kim shot her a look for interrupting. "Sorry," she apologized.

"Uh huh," Kimberly sighed, shaking her head. Now she understood what Tommy had gone through when he'd tried explaining things to them back in the 90s. Teenagers had a really hard time keeping quiet when they were surprised. Especially the group of former rangers. "Anyway, they were there for about two weeks. And well, they met us. So I guess, my past, but about a year or so into your future," she told the former yellow ranger. Aisha nodded her understanding. "Well, while they were there, you and Connor, well, you got a little close. Nothing serious, but you flirted, and well, if I remember right, got a bit affectionate in public," she told the sixteen-year-old. Aisha's brow furrowed as she thought about what Kimberly was telling her. She and Connor? They'd been flirtatious? They'd been involved with each other? But why would she have done that if…

"Rocky and I haven't been together nearly as long as you and Tommy, huh?" Aisha asked, glancing up, and Kim saw what she'd suspected confirmed in Aisha's eyes. As kids, Aisha had never admitted feelings for Rocky. Kimberly knew it wouldn't be until college that a relationship between the second red and yellow rangers even began to blossom. But Aisha had wanted there to be one. Her tryst with Conner had been something to keep her mind off the fact that Rocky still hadn't asked her out. Bold though she always was, Aisha had wanted Rocky to be the one to make the first move. And then of course there was the fact that Aisha had no idea Kim wouldn't always be with Tommy. If she subtracted the near decade they'd spent apart, even Adam and Tanya, who'd only been officially dating for about three and a half years, had a longer relationship than Kim and the first green ranger did. When she thought about that fact, she felt a pit form in her stomach, regretting every moment they'd spent apart because of their mutual stupidity.

"You and Rocky won't start dating until you make it to college," Kimberly told the teenager gently. Aisha didn't need to know anything about Kim and Tommy's relationship. Things were complicated enough. "And, it was a gradual thing, not some sudden change, like your mind is making you think," she added in.

"I hate not remembering. It's like I went to sleep with Rocky as my best friend, and woke up as his wife and mother of his children," Aisha stated, although her voice was barely above a whisper. Kimberly could clearly hear the despair in the teenager's tone. "It's not fair," she muttered, her head tilted down. Kim saw a tiny spot of water appear on the black concrete below their feet.

"You're right," Kimberly told her with a nod. "It's not. Our family," she stated, knowing that was the best word to describe what they all are, "never really gets what's fair. We saved the earth time and time again, and well, our reward is that we are apparent play things for the morphing grid for the rest of our lives," Kim let out a slightly dark laugh. "But I don't think any of us would be able to function without a bit of chaos."

"I just wish I knew how it happened," Aisha looked up, slightly pleading. Kim gave the girl an apologetic look in return, but shook her head. It wasn't her place to explain. Aisha turned her attention back to her shoes, while Kim stared off into the distance.

"The best way for you to find out," Kimberly told her regressed friend, "is simply to ask him," she added.

"He'll never speak to me again, after what happened. I don't blame him," was the dejected reply.

"Aisha, it was an accident, and Rocky knows that. Katie's fine," Kim assured the teenager. "Besides," she nodded in front of her, catching Aisha's gaze as the girl looked up again to seek assurance in her best friend's features. "If he didn't ever want to speak to you again, I doubt even Adam could have dragged him over here."

Aisha frowned and followed Kimberly's gaze. Sure enough, walking towards the two of them were Adam and Rocky. Kimberly hugged the teenager around her shoulder tightly. "You'll be fine," she informed her. "Just talk to him," she added before releasing the girl and standing up. Aisha cast Kim a helpless look, although she wasn't sure if Kim even noticed it. She watched as Kim approached Rocky and Adam, the former being slightly closer to the women than the later. The pink clad woman stopped for a moment and placed her hand on the former red ranger's shoulder, standing on her tippy toes to whisper something in his ear. Rocky nodded in response, even as his eyes locked onto Aisha, and Kim removed her hand. There was something apprehensive in Rocky's gaze that Aisha didn't quite understand.

"Come on frog boy," Kimberly was telling Adam. "I want to see the cranes before the kids tire of the aviary," she added, causing Aisha to shift her attention off Rocky and grin slightly, now that she understood what the pink clad woman was referring to. Adam frowned for a moment, puzzled by Aisha's amusement before he groaned.

"You told her?" he whined, turning to follow Kim. Rocky turned his head over his shoulder to watch Kim and Adam start walking off as well, knowing all along that they were going to leave him alone with his regressed wife.

"Oh come on," Kimberly's voice reached them as she shoved Adam playfully in the shoulder. "She technically already knew. Think of it as a reminder," she laughed.

"I hate you all," Adam muttered in response, even as he slung his arm over Kim's shoulders, and the two wandered out of view.

Rocky sighed and dropped his shoulders once he could no longer see his two former teammates. They'd left him alone with Aisha, which at the moment was the most terrifying thing he could think of. He didn't understand her. She wasn't the woman he loved, not yet. And they'd never really talked about their relationship, prior to becoming an official couple. He had no idea why she seemed to hate him so much. It frustrated him. Slowly, almost as if he really had no other choice (which considering Kim would drag his ass back to that very bench, he really didn't), Rocky turned to face Aisha, and ran a hand over the back of his head. She sat, feet crossed at the ankles, hands gripping the bench on either side of herself, gazing at her lap. He sighed again and turned towards the grizzly bears. The enclosure was empty. The keepers must have drawn the two bears inside for rest or feeding or whatever it was that went on when the animal wasn't occupying its outdoor enclosure (he wasn't exactly sure). It didn't matter though. It meant the area had emptied out. No one wanted to stay and watch an empty pond. He could talk with Aisha uninhibited and undisturbed. Damn morphing grid gods. There would be no way out of it with that excuse either.

"I'm sorry I yelled," Rocky finally stated, not really knowing how to start this. Aisha looked up at him briefly, nodding and casting her eyes back down as Rocky moved closer. "Can I sit?"

"Oh… um… yeah," Aisha replied awkwardly. Kim had brought up what she'd really been feeling to the surface, and it made being near him more uncomfortable than it had been before. "Listen, Rocky, I really didn't mean to take my eyes off Katie. I'm really sorry," she blurted out.

"You've nothing to apologize for. Katie knows better than to wander off. She's two. Accidents happen," he told her. Neither the former red ranger nor former yellow ranger was looking at each other.

"Ok, I guess," Aisha replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Katie getting lost," Rocky started, he leaned his head back and gazed up at the sky, "Zordon help me," he muttered almost in audibly, "well, her getting lost isn't the reason I blew up. It was an excuse, and a poor one at that. I never should have let my emotions get the better of me," he began, turning to gaze at Aisha. Questions were in his gaze. She wasn't sure what it meant though. Who was he questioning? "Aisha," he began again. "I just don't get it. Why does the idea of us, bother you so much?"

She should have been the one asking him questions. She was the one who'd regressed and was mentally trapped in a time she didn't understand. She remembered the Rocky who was a friend, a brother, a teammate, but not a boyfriend or a husband, or she almost couldn't stand to think it, a lover. But yet, Rocky was the one asking her questions. Because she'd been too freaked out from the beginning to even want answers.

"How," he spoke again, cutting through Aisha's thoughts. "How can you love me as an adult, if as a teenager, the idea of us together disgusts you?" He'd spent the last few days dwelling on this issue. At first he'd told himself that if roles were reversed, he'd have been just as panicked as the dark skinned girl was. He'd probably have distanced himself, or even made jokes. Possibly hurtful ones, just to avoid the concept. He'd have been sixteen and unable to love Aisha in any way other than as a sister. He'd argued with himself that Aisha's behavior was rational. Or at least he'd tried. He'd lost the argument pretty quickly when he realized that, yeah, he'd have been freaked out at first, but even at sixteen or seventeen, the idea of Aisha as more than a friend would have intrigued him, not horrified him. And the closer he'd been to seventeen or eighteen, the more he would have liked the idea of his future. Sure it would have been something completely and totally out of the ordinary, even with Connor's interference in the past, he'd never made a move while they were Rangers. But it would have definitely been in his mind and possibly a fantasy come to life.

"It doesn't disgust me," Aisha muttered quietly, causing Rocky to frown. She wasn't looking at him, and he wasn't sure he'd even heard her correctly.

"What?" he practically demanded, confusion etched on his features.

"It doesn't disgust me, alright," Aisha said louder, looking up and meeting his gaze. Her eyes flashed slightly as she let her temper take hold. She sighed, seeing his confusion, and shook her head, forcing herself to relax.

"Then why?" Rocky questioned, but Aisha cut him off with a shake of her head, her multiple braids flying around her head.

"Rocky DeSantos, you are such an idiot," she repeated, although this time there was a slight smile on her features. "Rocky, I'm not disgusted by you or the fact that in my future, there's an us. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel that way. I'm just… well… I…"

"Aisha," Rocky stated softly, noticing his regressed partner was having difficulty with whatever she was trying to tell him. "You can tell me anything," he reiterated the words Kimberly had told her. He placed his hand on his shoulder, hoping that it was a comforting act, and not one that would freak her out even more.

"I like you, ok?" Aisha blurted out, turning her gaze away from Rocky immediately.

"You what?" Rocky asked, more than a little confused. Was this what Adam knew that he didn't? How had Adam known? What did she mean she liked him? How? Why? Why? When had that happened? His brain was going a mile a minute. Had Aisha even really just said what he'd thought she had? His hand fell away from her shoulder as his mouth moved gaping, almost like a fist gasping for air.

"I like you," Aisha repeated more calmly. "Well, not you, you," Aisha told him, causing Rocky to close his mouth and frown as the yellow clad teenager turned to look at him. His expression, probably for the first time since she'd come to Monday afternoon in Tommy's basement, reminded her of the Rocky she knew. A small smile eased onto her face. "Sixteen year old you. Rocky, I had a crush on you when we were in high school for real," Aisha told him, getting the point across that she did fully understand that even she wasn't supposed to currently be in high school.

"Why didn't you say something?" Rocky finally managed to choke out after several moments of stunned silence. Aisha had had a crush on him when they were kids. Like kid kids. Sure, at sixteen they hadn't thought of themselves as kids, but watching the Dino Thunder teens go through crap with Mesogog had made him realize for the first time just how young they had really been when they'd been fighting Rita, Zedd, and when he'd gone on to fight the machine empire. And if she'd said something, maybe things would have been different. Maybe they'd have been dating, maybe they'd have actually fallen in love, and Aisha might not have ever left of Africa. They might not have been separated, even though they hadn't been apart for extremely long in the grand scheme of things. The rational part of his brain argued that Tommy and Kim had been in love, but Kim had still left. And if Aisha had never gone to Africa, Tanya wouldn't be part of their family. Still, his wife had just confessed, for the first time in their lives, that she'd liked him when they were young. And the emotions that idea brought up canceled out most rational thought.

"You are such an idiot," Aisha laughed at him, shaking her head.

"Are you seriously telling me you needed me to make a move?" Rocky finally computed. "Wait… the thing with Conner our senior year of high school? You did that…"

"To make you jealous?" Aisha smirked. "Kim told me about it. Since I'm not quite there mentally, all I can say is I assume so. You'll have to ask me again when I actually remember it happening." She laughed for a moment. "Rocky," she exhaled, "it's always only been you."

"I was just too much of an idiot to see it," Rocky stated, nodding. He sighed and turned away from her. The 'what ifs' didn't really matter. They weren't in the past, and they'd since learned that it wasn't a really good idea to try and change it. In fact, the time Tommy and Kim had tried and pretty much resulted in Kim being kidnapped by Mesogog (although that would probably have happened anyway). "That still doesn't explain why you've been acting so distant, though," he told the teenager after a few minutes.

"Rocky," she muttered, "the last thing I remember is being given a homework assignment on what time period I'd want to live in before confronting an evil Tommy alongside my best friends. All of a sudden I'm in," she stressed the word in, "another time period, and one of my best friends, who I currently have a crush on, but barely notices I'm even a girl, is telling me he's my husband and father of my two children! And I have absolutely no idea how that even happened!"

"Ok fair point," Rocky laughed slightly, wondering if Aisha hade even taken a breath during her speech. Her volume had gotten increasingly louder, though not nearly enough to draw the attention of anyone who happened to be walking by on their way to another exhibit. "But in all fairness, all you had to do was ask," he told her, and Aisha frowned. "You might not have any idea how it had happened, but I remember every detail."

"You do?" she asked, frowning slightly. Rocky smirked slightly and nodded.

"Of course, you don't ever forget how you actually finally got together with the love of your life. Aisha," he laughed, blushing slightly, "I had a crush on you too," he added, and Aisha's head snapped up, her eyes going wide. "For a while. I was just too much of an idiot to say anything either," he laughed. "Do you want to know the story then?" he asked her. Aisha paused. Now it was her turn to feel apprehensive. "Knowing might make you feel better about it," Rocky told her. "It's not so sudden as waking up in a basement in the future," he added with a grin. Aisha smacked him. "Ow," he commented, rubbing the spot on his chest where her hand had made contact. "So?" he asked again after a minutes. Aisha took a deep inhale and nodded quickly, exhaling as she did, before looking up and meeting his eyes again. "Ok then."

* * *

A loud crack of thunder that followed barely a second after a bright flash of lightning shook the entire ranch style house that sat between to two story homes. The bright green lawn in front was littered with large patches of muddy water that formed as a result of the torrential down pour that had been going on for the last three days, forcing the occupants of the homes on the street in doors. The lawn of the house on the right had a few abandoned pink jump ropes and a couple of toy cars. The lawn on the left had a few discarded bicycles which would need to be dried well to avoid any rust. However, the ranch houses lawn was bare. The youngest of the occupants having reached college age, home for his first summer break though he hadn't actually chosen to go anywhere far from home. He was even a commuting student, like most of the students who went to the local university. He was only a part time student though, slowly working on a Bachelor's degree, or at least an Associate's degree, in business. He spent most of his time running a small martial arts school, though it didn't have a physical building yet. Most of the time he met his students at the youth center or in the park.

At present, the individual in his late teens lay on the love seat, his head propped up on a few pillows, wearing a grey tank top and a pair of brown sweats, although if one squinted hard enough they may have had a tinge of red. His arms were muscular, his brown hair was shaved short on the sides, but allowed to be about a half inch or so on the top. He had a small hoop earring in one very front was spiked up. His brown eyes followed the baseball he tossed up and down in his hands.

Although he was the only resident of the house his age, he wasn't the only teenager occupying the room. Another teenager wearing jeans and a grey t-shirt was sprawled out on his side comfortably on the living room's sofa. His curly black hair was parted in the center and shoulder length and kept out of his face by a grey and white checkered bandana. His black eyes gazed absent mindedly at the screen of a hand held video game he was playing with, the volume turned completely down. None of the lights were on in the house, despite the darkness created by the dismal weather outside, however, the television was on, displaying an early afternoon news report, the volume muted.

Both teenagers sat in silence, each lost in his own mind or activity, almost completely disregarding the adult woman who walked into the room, a yellow raincoat over her dress, purse on her shoulder, and umbrella clutched in her hand. Her eyes and hair were the same shades of brown as the boy with the baseball. She eyes both teenagers for a moment before sighing.

"Seriously? Can't the two of you find better things to do? There was a time when I used to beg you to spend time in the house, now I can't get you to leave," she told them.

"It's raining," the teenager with the black hair remarked, his eyes dark and cold. He barely glanced up from the hand held device. His friend on the love seat sighed and shook his head.

"Sorry mom," he apologized. "We just really don't feel like going out," he added, eyeing his friend. It wasn't an entirely true statement. He was perfectly willing to go out. Hang out in the youth center, hit a movie, or head to the gym on the college campus. It was his friend who refused to go out in public, and well, solidarity and all.

"Fine," his mother replied, casting a concerned look at the second teenager who looked angry at the world. The boy had been like a second son, always in her home or around her child since the two young men had been in kindergarten. She worried about him. "At least try and do something productive? Your father and I would be very happy if helped clean out the garage a bit."

"Sure thing," her son replied, sitting up and giving his mom a friendly smile. His companion glared deeper at the video game screen. "Are you going out?"

"Just a few errands to run. If you get some of the garage done," she told him, "I'll order pizza for dinner," she added in, as he stood up to walk her to the door. The teenager grinned, holding the door open so she could spread her umbrella open more easily.

"Be careful," he told her, kissing her cheek. She kissed his back and patted his shoulder with her free hand before stepping out into the down pour. He watched her to make sure she made it into her car in the driveway before shutting the door and making his way back into the living room. "You didn't have to be rude," he told his friend. The icy glare shifted from the video game screen onto the youth leaning over the sofa, supporting his weight on his hands. He raised an eyebrow at the black haired teenager, daring him to argue. After a few moments and a battle of wills, the teen with the video game looked away and sighed.

"I'll apologize when she gets home," he stated.

"You'd better. Or I'm kicking you out before pizza," he was informed. "Come on, there's no way I'm cleaning out the garage without help."

"But it's your house," the second youth argued, although he set the video game aside and grabbed the remote, turning off the TV. His friend had already headed off to the garage and wasn't listening to him. "Oh come on!" he stated, although there was a little amusement in his voice.

Both young men spent the next two hours cleaning out the garage. They found many old toys and items that reminded them of their past. While some of the memories created by the found items created sorrow and longing in both of them, most of the memories were fond and therefore the stormy afternoon was passed with mostly laughter and the garage ended up mostly clean.

However, before they were finished, the sound of a loud siren filled the air. It wasn't that of a fire truck, police car or ambulance. The sound was more like that of a tornado warning, although tornado's hitting the little city weren't common enough for the city to have installed warnings. Both young men stiffened up at the sound, and the brown haired one pressed the button on the wall to open the garage, before they moved together toward the opening, peering out into the distance, both wondering if they'd catch a glimpse of whatever had set off the alarms. As usual, they were far enough away from the cause that they couldn't even detect a hint of whatever the danger was. The resident of the home turned his head and watched his friend. He'd just gotten him to relax. They'd had a few half way decent days, and now this set back. The black haired teenager's eyes had gone cold, despite the laughter that had just been there. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, his entire body rigid. His friend wondered if he'd looked that way in the early days only a few months before.

"Come on," he muttered, placing his hand on the rigid teenager's shoulder, startling him slightly, but dragging him from the dangerous thoughts in his mind. "It's alright. It's not your responsibility," he told him, remembering when he'd had to remind himself of the same thing. He still felt the tug that it was, but he knew it was nowhere near what his friend was feeling. "Let's go inside," he added, guiding his friend toward the house, and closing the garage as they went.

The brown haired teenager followed his friend back to the living room, watching as the other youth went immediately for the remote control to turn the news back on. Watching from the garage wouldn't help, but the brown haired teen wasn't entirely sure watching from the news would be entirely healthy for his friend either. He was about to say as much when the phone rang, forcing him into the kitchen to grab the phone.

"DeSantos residence," he spoke into the receiver. "Hi mom. Yeah, we're fine. You made it to a shelter? Ok, stay safe. Yes, I promise, we'll both stay inside until it's over," he stated, casting a glance over his shoulder to make sure his friend was indeed still in the house. "Ok, be safe and don't rush to get home," he added in. "Love you too," he finished, hanging up the phone and walking back into the living room.

His friend was glaring at the TV screen, leaning forward, left elbow perched on his knee, his head held in his hand. Both young men watched the screen together, critical eyes looking over the scene being filmed by the news crews. The monster attacking Angel Grove was humanoid in appearance and resembled a medieval castle jester. His hands, feet, elbows, and kneecaps were adorned in gold. The right half of his body was green and white, while the left half was red and white. The jester creature wore a bright red bow tied under his chin. He had a giant cow lick on his head. His eyes were set deeply in his mask like face, and he had a permanently etched wide grin on his face.

The creature was facing off against two megazords. The first had a blue torso, and white and blue arms and legs. The helmet was mostly white with red, yellow, and blue accents. It had what looked like a radio antenna on the left side of its head. Across the very top of the torso was a horizontal traffic light, green, yellow, and red. A slightly smaller version of the traffic light adorned the waist. Both traffic lights showed the green light lit. The second megazord had a green right leg labeled "3" and a yellow left leg labeled "4". The waist was blue and labeled "2" While the torso was red with a large number "1". The arms of the megazord were white with pink accents, the number "5" adorning the left shoulder. Majority of the head was red, with a white y shape from the top to silver mouth guard.

"It's not fair!" the black haired youth growled, punching his left fist into his right hand. "Rocky! They shouldn't be out there!"

"Adam," Rocky stated, shaking his head. "We've been through this. It's not your job anymore, you stepped down."

"By force!" he grumbled. "I… I never wanted," he began. "Demetria convinced us it was time."

"And you all agreed," Rocky reminded him.

"It wasn't. I was wrong. Rocky, what happens if they fail? Divatox is so much more powerful than Rita ever was. We had the training and the experience. We could have beaten her, these kids, I don't know."

"Adam," Rocky told his friend gently again, knowing the thoughts that were plaguing the recently "formered" ranger's mind. "You chose Carlos personally. You stepped down. Don't you think I felt the same way when I sent Justin in my place?"

"You had a choice! Demetria all but forced us!" Adam repeated, his volume raising, anger apparent. Both of them had turned their attention away from the zord battle on the screen, neither baring to watch.

"Choice?" Now it was Rocky's turn to get angry and raise his voice. "You call that a choice? Getting injured in a practice session, Justin hiding under the bed and finding out our identities, knowing you needed all five ranger powers to make it safely into the Nemesis Triangle, and sending a kid to do my job?" he listed off. "Not to mention, once I was back in fighting form, having to resist the urge to just take the power back from Justin? Seriously, if you still think that was a choice, I'd have liked to see you just walk up to a twelve year old and say 'oh hey, glad you had fun being a Power Ranger, but I'll be taking that power back now.' So think next time you tell me that my stepping down was a choice."

Adam was startled by Rocky's outburst. The former Zeo Ranger three had never told him exactly how he'd felt when the others had traded in their powers for the Turbo powers, leaving him behind. Adam hadn't seen a lot of Rocky until about a week before, when he, alongside Tanya, Kat, and Tommy, had passed their powers down to a new group of high schoolers, leaving Justin as the team's blue ranger. Only then had Adam sought out his best friend for comfort and companionship as he tried to come to terms with no longer being a ranger.

"Rocky, I…"

"Save it, Adam. You're not the only one longing to be out there. Worried about what will happen if the newbies fail. At least your replacement is old enough to be considered responsible," he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Adam nodded, sighing. The news showed that the rangers had won after a fairly short battle. Both youths could hear that monster alert sirens had faded into silence. "Mom will be home soon," he muttered. No sooner had the words left his mouth than the doorbell rang. Both teenagers frowned at one another, although Rocky's look was questioning. Adam shrugged. He had as much, or even less of an idea of who it could be than Rocky did. Rocky turned away from Adam and walked to the front door. The rain had stopped but it was still fairly dark. He couldn't fathom who would be out. If it was Kat or Tanya, the girls would have just let themselves in. Tommy was taking extra classes at the college over summer break, immersing himself in pursuing a degree, and even if it had been him, he'd have known he could let himself in as well.

Without even looking out the window or the peep hole, Rocky yanked the door open, his eyes going wide in surprise. The visitor outside the door was female, almost exactly the same age as he and Adam were. Her skin was a deep dark brown, and her black hair was in a familiar style of multiple braids, which were gathered in two bunches low on either side of her head in pig tails. It was exactly the same style she'd be wearing the last time he'd seen her almost a year and a half before. Unlike himself and Adam, she was still clothed in bright colors. A yellow sweater covered her torso, while a pair of form fitting blue jeans that flared out at the ankles covered her lower half. She had a messenger style black purse strung across her body. She had a large yellow suit case beside her.

"Aisha," Rocky breathed out, dumbfounded. His eyes were wide and his mouth fell open. He couldn't fathom what had brought her to Angel Grove, let alone to his door step following a major thunder storm and a ranger battle.

"Aisha?" Adam's voice was questioning. He frowned, and leapt over the sofa, rushing to see if Rocky's eyes were playing tricks on him. Both former rangers were pretty sure the last time they would ever see the former yellow ranger in person again was when she'd embarked on her zeo quest.

"You're ok!" was all Aisha stated, her eyes shining with unshed tears and fear that seemed to give way into relief, as she reached up and wrapped her arms around Rocky's neck, just as Adam reached his side. The former black and green ranger gave his best friend a questioning look, but now it Rocky's turn to shrug, even as he wrapped his arms around Aisha's slightly shaking body to hug her. Clearly, she was upset about something and surprised to find him, at least physically, whole. Slowly, he led her inside the house, allowing Adam to grab the suitcase and close the door behind them. The former black/green ranger hid the suitcase in the hall closet.

"I'm fine, really 'Sha," Rocky assured her when she wouldn't release him. "I promise, just look at me," he told her, pushing her back a bit. "Adam's ok too," he added in, unsure exactly why Aisha was worried about his wellbeing and figuring if she was worried about him, she might have been worried about the others. Aisha looked at him, and then Adam, and then inhaled deeply, before brushing water away from her eyes, before she closed the gap and hugged him tightly again. This time though, she released him willingly and quickly hugged Adam around the waist.

"Aisha," Adam laughed slightly, although there was a nervous edge to it. "Not that we're not incredibly happy to see you, but why are you here?" he asked the girl as he released her and the two of them followed Rocky into the living room they were both familiar with.

"I just got Tanya's letter about two months ago," Aisha stated, causing both young men to frown as they all sat down on the sofas.

"What letter?" Adam asked. Tanya typically told him when she was writing to Aisha to ask if there was anything he'd like her to include in the message to one of his childhood best friends. The two had become quite the pen pals following switching their locations during the time reversal.

Aisha handed Adam a mangled piece of parchment. The paper was shredded and stain marked in multiple places. Most of the writing was smeared by water and illegible. Adam frowned, holding the nearly demolished piece of paper up. "Rocky hurt, tournament, neck, hospital, kidnapped, Divatox," Adam read out, squinting more and more as he went.

"Yeah," Aisha half cried, half laughed. "That's all it said, but I knew something was wrong. Tanya's letters aren't usually this short. Took me half the semester to convince my parents the best thing for me was to transfer to Angel Grove University," she told them both, before looking back at Rocky and latching her arms around him again. "Oh, I'm just so glad you're ok."

"Transfer?" was the only world Rocky was able to squeak out. Aisha's body was pressing against his. He was just now beginning to compute this. One minute he'd been nearing winter break of his senior year of high school, working up the courage to finally ask Aisha out after she'd broken up with some guy she'd been flirting with for about two weeks (he couldn't even remember the guy's name, let alone what he looked like), and the next minute, they'd all been pint sized and sent to who knows where and when to find their shards of the zeo crystal and then Aisha made the decision to stay in Africa. He hadn't even gotten the chance to properly say goodbye. And now she was there, physically, wrapped in his arms. She was even more beautiful than he'd remembered her.

"Aisha," Adam's voice cut through Rocky's mental confusion. "That was almost a year ago," he told her.

"Well, that explains why the letter was pretty much demolished," Aisha laughed, once again pulling away from Rocky, who glared at Adam. Her warmth was gone. It was Adam's fault. "It must have gotten lost in the mail. I hadn't gotten anything in months and then this showed up," she finished, indicating the paper.

"You know you could have just called," Adam laughed.

"Yeah, cause that would have gone real well. One, there aren't a whole lot of phones near the village where I was living," Aisha told him, leaning against his shoulder. "And two," she counted off on her fingers. "There's no way I could have explained needing to make an extremely expensive long distance phone call to Angel Grove. Mom and dad don't remember living here. Zordon was right, after time righted itself, my parents had joined me in Africa, but they also had complete memories of us always being there. They don't even remember who you guys are, so they'd have questioned who I was calling," she explained. The two young men frowned, but Aisha shook her head at their worry. "It's alright, really. I adjusted. They're happy. But anyway, tell me what happened?"

"Rocky?" Adam asked, the other teenager.

"We were practicing for a charity three on three tournament," the former blue and red ranger told her. "I missed a kick pretty badly and hurt my neck and back. Crippled myself for a bit," he explained, seeing her worry. "I'm ok now, I swear," he continued. "Spent a few days in the hospital, but they released me pretty quickly, to heal at home."

"Yeah, but a new enemy chose then to start attacking. Divatox," Adam continued. "She kidnapped Jason and Kimberly, turned them evil with the help of a being called Maligore. We became Turbo rangers, destroyed him, and saved Jason and Kim. Jason filled in for Rocky in the tournament, so we won that too," Adam stated. Rocky smirked. Despite the fact that Aisha's mouth was hanging out at the nonchalant tone in Adam's voice, it was the first time Rocky had heard his best friend speak about being a ranger without depression in his one.

"Um… ok… wow," Aisha stated, blinking, realizing she definitely had not gotten nearly the gist of what Tanya's letter had been trying to explain. She turned and frowned at Rocky, her eyes moving up and down his body, taking in his entire appearance. She wasn't being coy about it either, which confused both Adam and Rocky. While Adam had known Aisha had a slight crush on Rocky, he'd figured she'd long since given up on his friend. Why was she eyeing him? "If you were injured, who helped destroy Maligore… you're not a ranger anymore?" Aisha questioned, and finished for herself.

Rocky responded with a sad smirk and a gentle shake of his head no. His clothing. That's what she'd been eyeing. The last time she'd seen him, his wardrobe was mostly red. Tanya would have written about the zeo powers. She would have known he'd been blue. She would have been expecting him to be wearing one of those colors. "His name is Justin," Rocky stated, knowing Aisha would understand. She nodded, casting her gaze to the floor. They'd both been the recipients of another ranger's powers and they'd both been the ones to pass that power on. "He's twelve."

"Did you just say twelve?" Aisha asked, frowning back up at him. Rocky's sarcastic smirk was amused. Almost as if he really couldn't believe he'd lost his place on the team to a twelve year old. "I should have realized you weren't," Aisha stated, still looking at Rocky. "I mean, I heard the alarms. I saw everyone panicking, but my flight had just landed and I didn't known were else to go, so I just headed here. But if you'd been out there, there's no way you would have been…" her attention shifted off Rocky and onto Adam, "… home," she finished quietly, observing the quieter of her longest known friends. "Oh, Adam, you too," she stated, seeing the hurt in his eyes and body language. She realized that nothing the teenager wore was either black or green. In fact he was almost completely clad in boring greys. A clear mark that he was mourning a loss of some sort. There was something distinctly different about his reaction and Rocky's. Rocky's reaction was resigned and relaxed. Adam was devastated. "When?"

"Two weeks ago," Adam muttered, not looking up to meet Aisha's eyes. She startled him by pulling him into a tight hug. "Tommy, Kat, and Tanya too," he explained.

"It's going to be alright," she told him calmly. "I promise," she stated, pushing him away. She reached up and pulled the grey and white bandana off his head, studying the bland coloration. "Once a ranger, always a ranger," she told both the boys, giving them each a smile. They hadn't heard that phrase before, but they liked it. "Don't give up your colors," she informed them. "It'll make you feel better. I speak from experience," she added, just as the sound of the front door opening reached the three of them.

"Rocky," an older woman's voice reached them. "Did you finish cleaning the garage?" his mother asked, walking into the living room. "Oh," she stated, seeing the teenage girl seated between Adam and Rocky. The three were all very close together, the girl's knee touching Rocky's leg, while her hand rested on Adam's thigh.

"Hello Mrs. DeSantos," Aisha stated warmly, her face breaking out in a delighted smile. It wasn't just her ranger friends that she'd missed since moving to Africa. As a threesome of kids, she had spent many days around the DeSantos family with Rocky and Adam.

"Hello dear," the woman responded. "And who might you be?" she continued, and Aisha's smile for the minutest of seconds, faltered. Of course. If her own parents hadn't remembered Adam and Rocky, there was no chance of Rocky or Adam's parents knowing her. The time line had been changed. No one but the rangers had any idea who Aisha was.

"This is Aisha Campbell," Adam stated immediately. "She's a good friend from school," he explained to Rocky's mom.

"Is it alright if she stays for dinner, mom?" Rocky instantly asked, not wanting Aisha to leave. He'd sensed a shift in her body language.

"Of course," Mrs. DeSantos replied with a genuine smile, although Aisha could tell she was clearly questioning the meaning of the teenager girl being so intimate with both her son and her surrogate son on a living room sofa. Especially since she had no knowledge of the girl's existence. "The alarms have been down for a while now. Should be safe to go ahead and order the pizza now, assuming you've cleaned out the garage," she finished, giving her son, who now had his hand on Aisha's shoulder protectively, a pointed look.

"Nearly," Rocky winced, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck. He didn't want to release Aisha in case she bolted. He could tell she was still bothered by his mother's reaction to her. "We got a bit distracted when the alarms went off. Aisha was on her way home, but was too far out to make it, so she sought shelter here."

"Well, alright then," Mrs. DeSantos stated with a nod. "As long as you finish tomorrow?"

"I'll help him, maybe Tanya and Kat will too," Adam told the woman. Aisha blinked slightly at Adam's casual use of Tanya's name. Mrs. DeSantos didn't react. Wasn't surprised by the mention of the other girls. She knew who they were. While Aisha understood why, it didn't mean the knowledge didn't hurt.

"Tommy have classes again?" the woman asked, looking from Adam to Rocky. Both teenage boys shrugged. Mrs. DeSantos nodded with a bit of sadness in her expression, though it was clear to Aisha as the woman patted her son comfortingly on the shoulder that the sadness was for Rocky and Adam's feelings, not really the fact that Tommy was in class. "He'll come around soon, boys. You're all still adjusting to college life. Things change. People grow up, sometimes they drift apart. But Tommy will always be your friend."

"We know mom, thanks," Rocky told her, ignoring the confused look Aisha wore, as Mrs. DeSantos left the living room and headed to the kitchen to order dinner for the group. "Don't ask. We really can't explain it," Rocky told the former yellow ranger once he was sure his mom was out of ear shot.

"He's withdrawing from us," Adam added. "But yeah, really, we can't explain more than that," he stated. "But are you alright? You said you were adjusting."

"I've never actually had someone not know me before," Aisha stated, nodding, setting the Tommy issue out of her mind for the time being. "They're all going to be like that, aren't they?" Aisha asked her two male best friends. "Everyone who was never a ranger?"

"Yeah," Adam stated. "I think so," he added, hugging her around the shoulders. "Think of the bright side though," he stated with an amused smirk. Aisha frowned at him. There was a bright side? "You won't have to deal with Bulk and Skull as much," he laughed, causing Rocky and Aisha to break down into laughter with him.

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter. Mrs. DeSantos, although slightly hesitant at first, had left the three teenagers alone as they ate dinner and reminisced in Rocky's bedroom, with the door open. Rocky's mother had suspicions about the girl's identity, but she hadn't decided yet if she believed her to be interested in Rocky or Adam. Either way, the fact that neither teenager had mentioned a friend named Aisha in the last year they'd been in college made her a bit concerned about the girl's sudden appearance, and her apparent closeness with both of them. Still, the teenager girl had seemed extremely nice and was very polite and respectful. Mrs. DeSantos could find no argument against her, aside from the suddenness of her arrival. The three had caught each other up on the goings on in their lives. Adam was a full time student studying business during the school year, coaching children's soccer on weekends. He'd agreed to help Rocky out with the martial arts school he was starting during the summer. Aisha was impressed with Rocky's plans to start running the school, while working on a business degree part time. He already had half the money necessary saved up to put a rental deposit on a building he had deemed the perfect place to start the physical school he wanted to run. Further, Aisha had shared the fact that she was officially accepted as a transfer student to Angel Grove University, studying biology with a concentration in Pre-veterinary medicine, for the fall. She had a full scholarship. There was only one slight kink in her plans. She'd told her parents that she would be living on the college campus over the summer, despite the fact that they did not in fact offer summer housing. Still, rangers, even former ones, were nothing, if not resourceful. A few phone calls were made, and it was determined, after lots of squealing and excitement over the fact that Aisha was home, that Tanya would be able to house Aisha for the summer starting the following Monday. Kat, in the meantime, would be able to have her friend stay at her house for a couple of nights without question.

So, an hour later, when Adam had hugged Aisha tightly goodbye, and promised to see her tomorrow (they'd all planned to meet up – promising they were going to drag Tommy, when his classes were over, and Jason, who'd moved back to Angel Grove following his time at the peace conference, to the youth center) as he had to pick his younger cousin up and bring her home, Rocky found himself seated on the porch with Aisha and her suitcase, waiting on Kat to pick her up. The two waited in silence for a few minutes, just listening to the sounds of the after thunder storm, early night insects.

"You said some pretty great things to Adam tonight," Rocky stated suddenly, and Aisha shifted her gaze from the ground to look up at him.

"Like what?" Aisha questioned, tucking a braid that had come loose behind her ear.

"That once a ranger thing," Rocky elaborated. "I think it actually helped him," he continued. "Last couple of weeks have been really rough on him. And with Tommy pulling away," he stated, his voice fading out a bit. "You really helped. Couldn't have had better timing," he assured her.

"I'm glad," Aisha replied. "You guys are some of my best friends. I can't stand to see you in pain. And when I see him, I'm going to give Mr. Pull away a piece of my mind," she told Rocky. Judging by the look on her face, Rocky didn't doubt it, but he had a feeling nothing she would say would fix things for Tommy.

"It helped me too," Rocky told her, unexpectedly. He hadn't been planning to say it.

"Once a ranger? Or being here?"

"Both," was Rocky's simple reply. "Aisha, why'd it matter so much to you?" he asked her. "Adam was right; I mean yeah, you couldn't call, but you could have written. You didn't need to transfer and come back here. Zordon said Africa was where you were meant to be." Aisha shrugged, not looking up. She could feel Rocky staring at her, as if his gaze would be enough to draw out a response. "I'm so glad you came," he told her, growing impatient for an answer. He'd waited long enough. If he waited any longer, he'd have another missed opportunity. Maybe she'd be back in Africa, now that she knew he was physically ok.

"You are?" Aisha asked him, this time looking up. She'd expected to meet his eyes with her own. What she hadn't expected was for Rocky to seize each of her shoulders in his hands and draw her lips to his. For a moment, her mind raced. She could feel Rocky tense his hands, expecting her to pull away, and not wanting to let her, but as soon as she relaxed and began to kiss him back, rather than just being an unwilling recipient, Rocky had relaxed. Instead of gripping her arms, he'd wrapped his behind her, freeing Aisha to the same to him, as the two, who'd for nearly three years avoided telling the other how they'd truly felt, began to make out for the first time.

"Well, I thought I couldn't get more surprising news today than Aisha's back from Africa," a female voice with a thick Australian accent. Aisha and Rocky sprang apart nearly instantly. "I can come back later," the new comer laughed, as both kissing parties blushed.

"Don't you dare!" Aisha stated, recovering first in her excitement at seeing the other girl. "Kat! I missed you!" she added, leaping up from the bench and throwing her arms around Kat's neck in a hug. Kat hugged her friend back tightly.

"Not nearly as much as you missed him," the blond, blue eyed, former pink ranger told Aisha. Unlike Rocky and Adam, Kat still wore a little bit of pink. Not nearly as much as she had two weeks prior, but her white t-shirt was laced with pink accents, and her flip flops had pink bands. "So are you two, together then?" she asked, looking back at Rocky and then at Aisha. Aisha blushed and bit her lip, turning her eyes from Katherine to the young man she'd just been making out with, a question in her eyes. Her breath caught in her chest as she waited for Rocky to answer.

For his part, Rocky was still staring down at his feet, blushing like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. If it was his mother who had caught him, he probably would have been fine. To her, Aisha was just a girl from school. But the rangers knew better. They knew who Aisha really was. Was this going to be weird for their little family? Did it matter though? He'd wanted to make Aisha his girlfriend for the last few years. Why couldn't he do it now? And she'd kissed him back. She'd enjoyed it and welcomed it. He exhaled sharply, looking up and meeting Aisha's eyes for a moment before he nodded and made eye contact with Kat. "Yes," he told her simply, a smile breaking out on his face. He watched as two bright smiles broke out on the girls faces. They both squealed and hugged each other, before Kat grabbed Aisha's hand with one hand and the former yellow ranger's suit case with the other, dragging her off towards the car that was parked in the street in front of the house. "Hey! No gossiping about my kissing skills!" Rocky called after them.

"I would never!" Aisha called back, her eyes lit up and sparkling.

"What do you mean, you'd never? You'd better," Kat laughed, as she loaded Aisha's bag in the trunk of the car, before heading to the driver's side. "See you tomorrow, lover boy," Kat laughed before climbing into the car.

Aisha paused for a moment, her hand on the passenger side of the car. She peered back over her shoulder at Rocky. "You're sure?" she asked him, a bit of the apprehension he'd seen earlier in her expression. Rocky smiled wide and nodded, enjoying the look of the elation that returned to Aisha's face, the sparkle appearing in her eyes again, before she blew him a kiss and climbed into the car beside Kat. He watched them for a few moments until the former pink ranger's car was nowhere in sight, before he sighed and walked back into the house.

* * *

"Really?" her voice sounded small, a little in awe. She'd interrupted his story a few times. Mainly for him to explain exactly how she'd ended up in Africa. Rocky had swiftly told her about the orb of doom, being regressed into children, and going on the zeo quest to collect the crystals from different locations and times in order to restore the present to the correct time line. At that point, used to insanity, Aisha had easily accepted what Rocky told her about that. He laughed a bit now, though when she seemed to be having trouble understanding how their relationship had finally started.

"Inseparable ever since," Rocky told her. "Although, now I understand why you never pulled away that night. You'd liked me too," he told her. "That's why you came back. You loved me enough even though we weren't technically together." Aisha just simply nodded, a slight blush on her face. "You have any other questions?" Rocky asked her.

"Not about us; the story raised a few questions, but I don't think they're necessary to really explain," Aisha told him, looking up from her feet which had consumed her vision for most of his explanation. Rocky nodded.

"How do you feel?" he asked her, remembering that her feelings were the entire reason he'd told her their story. She didn't answer immediately, and Rocky didn't rush her. The whole point was to make her more comfortable, not less.

"It's still weird," she finally said, honestly, "but I don't think I've ever heard a better story," she added with a smile. "Thanks for helping me understand," she told him. Without warning, Aisha leaned in and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her face against his torso. Earlier that day, Rocky had been positive Aisha would have rather made out with a tenga than touch him in such a way. He instantly relaxed and hugged her back, though he did reluctantly push the teenage girl away, Adam's comments about the fact that he was afraid of doing something inappropriate with Tanya seeping into his mind. Aisha was even younger and consequences could definitely be problematic.

"Any time," Rocky told her, giving her a genuine smile. "You ready to rejoin the others?" he asked his regressed wife. Aisha nodded as they both stood up and Rocky began to lead the way back. He paused when he realized Aisha wasn't following him. "Everything alright?" he asked her. She hadn't reacted much, besides the hugs, to what he'd told her. This was Aisha. While she's wasn't as dramatic as Kim, he'd still expected something more. He wasn't sure if he'd expected it to be positive or negative. But he'd still expected something. Was her reluctance to actual follow him, despite the fact that she'd hugged him, her real response? Was she not ok with how they'd became a couple? Was she disappointed that it had been fairly ordinary? Aside from the fact that she'd been miraculous in that moment – or what he had deemed miraculous. She'd saved both him and Adam from spiraling into each other's depression over no longer being rangers. She'd come home at exactly the right time. She'd been amazing. Had his story actually captured how he'd felt in that moment? Or was she about to tell him that when she got back to normal, she'd like to reanalyze their relationship?

"Rocky," Aisha stated, taking a hesitant step slightly closer to him, "you don't by any chance happen to have…" she hesitated a moment, looking down at her feet. "Well, I mean… do you have my wedding ring with you?"

Rocky instantly smiled and walked back to her nearly as fast as his feet could carry him. He swiftly enveloped her in a tight hug, wanting more than anything to kiss her lips, but settling for burying his face in her hair and then quickly kissing her forehead before releasing her and reaching into his pocket and pulling out his wallet that held her wedding band. He held it out to her in the palm of his hand. Aisha took it, and glanced up at him, a shy smile on her face. But it wasn't the smile that made his heart skip a beat. It was the fact that her eyes sparkled exactly the same way they had the night they'd first became a couple.

* * *

"So, aside from a few small mishaps," Zack began. The group was seated in the living room of Kimberly and Tommy's home, having just finished dinner. Katie and Tyler were playing on the floor with a ball, rolling it back and forth between them, while all of the others sat scattered around. Some were on furniture, and others were on the fall. When he spoke, Zack eyed Katie, an amused smirk on his face. Kim whacked him lightly with the back of her hand. "I'd say the day went pretty smoothly," he finished.

When Rocky and Aisha had rejoined the group, the rest of the actual adults had noticed she was wearing her wedding ring once again, and Rocky seemed a lot less tense than he'd been since Monday afternoon. No one had said anything, however, not wanting to disrupt the calm that finally seemed to be settling in on them. It was Wednesday night. Billy would be there Friday. Billy would fix things. On Friday, Kim had insisted multiple times. They could do this. They could make it.

"So, what was everyone's favorite animal?" Zack asked, and Adam rolled his eyes at his predecessor.

"You're baiting me," he told the dark skinned man.

"Maybe a little," Zack laughed. "Was it the frogs, Adam? Did you enjoy the frogs?" he goaded.

"You're bad," Jason told his friend, shaking his head while Adam glared at the black ranger. "Although, I wonder if my spirit animal is a lion. I did quiet enjoy that exhibit."

"Pegin!" Katie exclaimed, standing up, placing her hands at her sides and waddling around like one of the tuxedo colored birds.

"Well, clearly, Katie liked the penguins," Kira stated, "despite her little adventure, or maybe because of it? I don't know. Rocky she's your kid."

Rocky laughed and nodded. "Billy's going to be disappointed he missed out on the wolves. The pack they had were pretty cool," he told the group.

"We can bring him back as a reward for fixing us," Tommy replied, as he pulled a giggling Katie into his lap. The group dissolved into a bit of laughter and conversation for a few moments before the doorbell rang. Kim, who was feeding Luke a bottle beside Zack looked up towards the door and frowned. She mentally counted every in the room. No one was missing, well aside from Billy and Haley. Haley wasn't due back until Saturday, and even if she was early, she wouldn't have rung the bell. It wasn't that late. The hopeful part of her suddenly realized it could be Billy. Maybe he was early. Maybe they could fix this mess sooner.

"Rocky, would you mind?" she asked, indicating the man who was sitting closest to the door. His face seemed to reflect the same hopefulness Kim felt. He shook his head, showing that he didn't mind and leapt toward the door, disappearing out of direct sight. The group in the living room heard him yank the door open.

"Ow! Shit!" Rocky's voice shouted, raising the alarm of everyone in the room, save the two children and baby. Everything else happened within a matter of milliseconds. Kim shoved Luke into Aisha's arms, while Jason pushed Luke towards Trini. Both girls, and Tommy, who still clutched Katie, allowed Kim and the Dino Thunder teenagers to stand in front of them. Adam, Jason, and Zack formed the front line, with Tanya hanging back in between them and the dino thunder teens, unsure if her powers really would work. However, rather than hearing continued fighting or a sound that indicated Rocky was gravely injured, the former ranger's voice continued. "What did I do to deserve that?" All of the former rangers in the room frowned, confusion taking over.

"That," a female voice with a heavy accent replied. "Was for not telling me what had happened to my best friend!" the woman replied.

Kim's face instantly broke out into a smile and she pushed through Jason and Zack in her rush to get to the foyer. "Kat!" she shrieked, launching herself past Rocky who had one hand clasped over his left eye, and wrapping her arms around her neck of the woman with blue eyes and long pale blond hair tied back in a French braid. Kim's successor was clad in a pink tank top and soft dark grey Capri pants. She grinned as she hugged her predecessor tightly in return.

* * *

I debated for a very long time how to best write Aisha and Rocky's story. While Adam and Tanya's was the briefest, I felt it fit. We saw a bit of their relationship development during Zeo, so a little explanation was all that I felt was needed. For Jason and Trini, I enjoyed writing it from a conversational standpoint, starting with teasing the strip poker at the beginning, to explaining via conversation between the guys, to finally allowing Jason to relive it mentally as he struggled to tell Trini how much he loved her. Especially because it actually caused Jason to want Tommy's device to have worked, which is something that may come back up later. But for Rocky and Aisha, I didn't feel a conversation would do it justice. I've had how they finally ended up together in my head since early on in Chronology Conundrum. I needed to do it justice. So, I hope you all enjoyed the fact that I wrote it in a flash back. Allowing you to actually see what went on, rather than just reading Rocky explain it, one sided, to Aisha.

So yeah, if you enjoyed, or even if your didn't, please review and sign them. I always reply if you're able to receive PM. I love hearing from you all.

Oh, and yeah, sorry for the break, but this is the longest chapter in the story!

Fateless Wanderer


	22. Chapter 22

So originally I was planning to make you all wait for this until I had one or two more chapters written, but Friday was my birthday and reviews are like birthday presents, so yeah, leave me one when you finish. I always enjoy hearing what you all think.

* * *

"Kat!" The entire Oliver/Hart house had erupted into chaos the moment that Kim had reacted. She wasn't the only one who had recognized the voice of the person who had clearly sucker punched Rocky in the face. There was quite a bit of movement of former rangers, although some clearly had no idea what was going on, judging from the questioning looks on their faces. And it wasn't just the regressed individuals who were unsure. However, the loudest exclamation happened to come from the former yellow Zeo ranger, who was only a few seconds shy of Kim in her reaction, and only then because, based on her limited knowledge of Kimberly, was, herself, slightly taken aback by the first pink ranger's reaction to her successor. Still, Tanya had never been more relieved to see someone, at least in her current memory, and her outcry as she entered the foyer was enough to break the hug between the two former pink rangers. The taller blonde turned towards her name, only to be hit around the waist at full force by the regressed Zeo ranger, who instantly buried her face in her best friend's shoulder. Chuckling slightly, Kat wrapped her arms around the girl, as her eyes met the stunned expression on her predecessor's face. Katherine shrugged and gave Kimberly an amused and slightly reluctant smile, to which Kim sighed and nodded, a gentle smile on her own face. Of course Tanya was the reason Kat was even there.

Unfortunately, everyone else in the room didn't quite have the same morphing grid connection that Kim and Kat did, and therefore, while there was understanding between the two pink clad women in the house, majority of the occupants wore looks of confusion, especially the remaining teenagers and the three small ranger spawn. Connor, Kira, Trent, and Ethan watched from the entrance to the living room, unsure of what to do. They'd all heard of Katherine, and even seen her on Tommy's video history, but they'd yet to meet her, and as a result had no idea how to react to her standing in the foyer of Tommy's home. Tyler had immediately shifted into super shy mode and was hiding behind his bewildered mother, while Aisha balanced Luke on her hip, observing the exchange between the adults and Tanya carefully. Katie blinked up at the new comer, slight recognition on her face, Tommy's hand on her shoulder. Of all the expressions on their faces, his was the hardest to read.

For his part, Rocky was still muttering curses under his breath, holding his eye, and glaring at Katherine through his one good one. Despite the pain though, his glare was only half angry. The other expression on his face was clear bewilderment, although if it was over the fact that he'd been socked in the face by Kat or over the fact that Kat was even there, was up for debate.

Jason and Zack both looked fairly amused at the situation, although they stood a decent distance away from Kat, just in case the slightly disgruntled former pink ranger decided to punch them too. Zack and Kat had only met a handful of times, so he was fairly certain he was safe. But Jason was one of her former teammates. The former gold Zeo ranger had no doubts he would have been on the receiving end of her fist had he opened the door instead of Rocky. He felt bad for his successor, but not badly enough that he would have traded places with him.

Which left a very confused Adam as the only other adult in the house, blinking repeatedly as he watched his regressed fiancé embrace Katherine in the foyer of his regressed former leader's home, almost as if he wasn't quite grasping exactly what he was seeing in front of him. His eyes bounced back and forth from the Zeo Ranger One to the Zeo Ranger Two, although nothing seemed to click.

"What are you doing here?" Jason finally broke through the stupor that had descended. While everything seemed to happen in slow motion, in reality it was probably under twenty seconds from the time Kimberly had rushed into the foyer to greet Katherine until Jason spoke up, deeming it safe to finally approach Kat.

"Do you seriously need to ask?" Kim asked, looking at him over her shoulder as he came forward, arms extended to give Kat a hug. Unfortunately, the yellow clad teenager was still glued to her side, so their greeting embrace ended up being one armed.

"She didn't!" Adam finally managed to choke out, drawing the attention of almost everyone in the room. His eyes locked onto Tanya. "You didn't!" he exclaimed, his volume rising as he processed what Kimberly had already grasped.

"Of course she did," Kimberly replied at the exact same moment as Katherine pushed Tanya away from her slightly so she could look the teenager in the eye as she said "You didn't tell them?"

"Didn't tell us what?" Zack stated frowning, one eye on the commotion in front of him, the other on the still muttering former red/blue ranger. "Man, go get some ice before it swells," he added, to Rocky, who blinked for a moment, and then nodded, slipping around everyone to find relief in the kitchen. Seeing him leave, Katie wriggled out of Tommy's hold and chased after him. A few of the others watched him disappear for a moment before instantly shifting their attention back to the center ring of the circus.

"That Tanya called Kat," Kimberly told the first black ranger, although she didn't take her eyes off Adam, amusement shining in them. The adults were pretty much ignoring the stunned and confused teenagers, who were growing more confused, rather than less by the minute.

"She did what?" Jason and Rocky both chimed in, the later emerging from the kitchen, an ice pack from the freezer on his eye, a toddler on his hip. Now it was Jason's turn to look back and forth between his two former female Zeo teammates. Although while Adam's expression was pretty much mortified and confused, Jason's demonstrated the fact that he was more than a little amused. Rocky on the other hand was still trying to piece together what was going on, considering he could only see through one eye.

"She shouldn't have had to," Katherine told them, glaring at each of her three adult former teammates in turn, although there was a bit of playfulness in the glare. They knew she wasn't incredibly angry with them. "I should have heard it from one of you guys," she added, specifically focusing on Adam. "Especially you."

"Me?" Adam choked out, "why me?" He watched as Kat pulled Tanya in close to her. The girl had gone red when Kat had called her out on not telling everyone that she'd called her female teammate.

"Because you should have noticed she wasn't fine with this and needed me," Kat told him, rolling her eyes. "Honestly! Men!" she added.

"I should have realized it, too," Kimberly spoke up, shaking her head and holding it in one hand. "With everything going crazy, I didn't even stop to think," she paused. "Tanya," she turned, addressing the teenager, "I totally should have realized you needed Kat. Unlike Aisha and Trini, as you are now, you don't even know me and I was treating you like nothing had changed from our adult relationship. Can you forgive me?" she asked the teenager.

"You mean we really are friends in the future?" the stunned yellow clad teenager asked, blinking a few times. She hadn't admitted it, but out of everyone she didn't "know", it was Kim she was most uncomfortable with. The only thing she knew of the woman was that she had broken up with Tommy via a Dear John letter, which to her eighteen year old mind was pretty harsh. She currently no other reference for the first pink ranger, other than she must have at the very least once been a good person, considering all of her other teammates spoke highly over her, and Zordon had chosen her to be the barer of the first pink power coin. "Well, the present?" she amended quickly.

"Of course you are, silly," Katherine told Tanya, hugging her regressed friend again, while Kimberly nodded enthusiastically.

"Um… if you don't mind my asking, can someone please explain to those of us who have no idea what's going on?" Aisha's voice cut into the conversation.

"Oh," Jason laughed, running his hand over the back of his head. "Well, it appears that Tanya contacted and invited her former female teammate to the reunion without telling us."

"Female teammate?" Aisha frowned, looking from Kimberly to Katherine, shifting Luke to her other hip for more comfort. Sure, she knew she replaced Trini, and it had been explained to her that Tanya would go on to replace her, but she'd never doubted that since they'd all been teammates with Tommy, Kimberly would have been a permanent part of the team as well.

"Kat… um… Katherine?" Trini asked, cocking her head to one side. Tyler still clung to her hand, but he was now peaking around her, glancing up at the taller woman in pink that he wasn't quite sure of. Sure, everyone else that had suddenly appeared in his life seemed to like dinosaurs, but he didn't know if another girl would. Kat gave the teenager a gentle smile and nodded. "You're Kimberly's successor? Like Aisha's mine?"

Kat once again gave the Asian girl a kind smile and one quick nod. In her present state of mind, Trini wouldn't know Kat, despite the fact that in the future they'd be pretty good friends, Kat even attending her wedding to Jason, considering Jason and Katherine were former teammates. However, before she could open her mouth to speak, an angry voice interrupted.

"You mean she's Kim's replacement," the male teenage voice that spoke was laced with venom and was distinctly cold. Everyone's attention shifted to Tommy whose expression had gone from confused to clearly angry. He was glaring at Katherine. In his mind, Katherine was responsible for him breaking up with Kim. And it didn't sit well with him that Kat would replace Kim on the team, but also as his girlfriend.

"Tommy!" Kimberly scolded, surprise clear on her face, but Jason laid a hand on her shoulder, to stop her. He actually understood the teenager. If he'd thought someone had replaced Trini in the way that Tommy currently thought Kat had, he'd have been furious too.

"You," he stated, pointing at the teenage boy. "Outside, now," he added, pointing toward the back door. The look he gave the teenager dared him to defy his leader. Tommy shifted his glare from Katherine to Jason for a moment, attempting to come up with an argument. However, the look on Jason's face suggested it might be a bad idea. Reluctantly, he sighed and hung his shoulders, glaring at his feet as he followed the direction of Jason's finger. The first red ranger, patted Kim's shoulder once and then followed.

"Well, um… that was unexpected?" Kira finally offered, bringing the group's attention to the four dino thunder teenagers who'd been silent watching the entire exchange.

"Oh," Adam and Rocky both stated, as everyone turned to the four actual teenagers (despite the fact that one was a few months younger than he should have been).

"Yeah, hi!" Connor laughed. "Remember us?" he added in, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at it appeared that the members of Zordon's original twelve finally remembered they weren't alone.

"You must be dino thunder then, right?" the blonde former pink ranger asked them, finally releasing Tanya. She gave each of the four teenager a kind smile as he looked them over.

"How did you," Trent began, a slight confused expression on his face. He knew they had never met her. They knew the memory device Billy, Ethan, and Tommy had created in nineteen ninety five had worked, so none of the others could have told Kat about Tommy's future team, and Trent was absolutely positive that beyond Billy, Kim, Adam, Rocky, Aisha, and Tanya, their mentor had not reached out to any of his remaining former teammates. It made no sense to him that Katherine would know anything about them. Even Tanya, when she'd called Kat, wouldn't have known enough about the four teenagers to give Tommy's only other pink teammate any insight to the most current team of rangers.

"Know about you?" Kimberly cut the teenage white ranger off. "Just because half of this relationship is too stubborn and cowardly to contact his old friends, doesn't mean I've cut them off. I've never lost contact with Kat," Kim told him with a bit of a smirk. She hadn't spoken to Jason, Trini, or Zack simply because she hadn't known just yet how to tell them she and Tommy were back together. Mainly because she hadn't been sure how receptive Jason would be to having Tommy back in his life, which would happen eventually, considering Kimberly was still part of it. Kat however, she'd had no fear would forgive Tommy, and she'd spoken to the woman a few times via email and phone since she'd moved to Reefside.

"Even when," Connor frowned, "even when Dr. O was dating Kat?" he finished after a pause. Trent elbowed him sharply and Kira stepped on his foot, causing the red ranger to wince, and Kimberly to laugh, while Kat smirked.

"Even then," Kim told the former red ranger. "Despite what that boy thinks," she added, gesturing outside to where she could see Jason and Tommy talking, or rather Jason talking and trying to coax Tommy to reply, "Kat and I never disliked each other."

"Of course not," Katherine agreed, laughing at the surprised expression on Tanya's face. She shook her head at the yellow zeo ranger's reaction and turned back to the other teenagers. "You're Connor, Kira, Trent, and Ethan?" she asked, nodding to each in turn. "But Tanya told me that the device got Ethan, as well?"

"Yeah," Ethan nodded, a bit more comfortable since he knew that in this situation he was at least on equal footing with the rest of his teammates. They really knew nothing about Katherine either, aside from the fact that she was part of their ranger family. "But not as much as everyone else. I only lost a few months."

"Only a few months, he says," Trent growled, throwing his hands up in the air. "Only" did not really cover the fact that Ethan had lost a major chunk of their ranger careers and therefore didn't quite understand their relationships, on top of the fact that Trent still caught Ethan watching him carefully every so often.

Adam laughed and looked pointedly at Kira. "Anyone else notice that members of your team like to down play the seriousness of stuff," he asked the dino thunder rangers.

"Like what?" Trent countered.

"Oh, I don't know," the former black and green ranger rolled his eyes at the younger former ranger. "Our current 'little situation'," he laughed, getting a chuckle from Connor and Trent. Connor ran his hand over the back of his head and blushed slightly, remembering how they'd described Tommy's regression to Adam and Rocky on Friday after it had happened.

"Speaking of little," Kat stated, turning away from the teenagers, "how's your eye? Did I hurt you a little?" she giggled.

"A little?" Rocky mocked. "Kat you punched me in the face," he reminded her, rolling his eyes.

"An Kat hit Daddy Ranger?" Katie spoke up, looking from her father to Kat and back again, she frowned. "Say sorry!" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest, which caused just about everyone in the room to laugh.

"I'm sorry," Katherine stated, although her reply was directed more at Katie than it was at her former teammate, who grinned and shook his head. Kat held her arms out to the toddler who immediately leaned out of her arms toward the blonde woman, who took her happily and bounced her as Katie snuggled into her.

"Wait… Aunt Kat?" Aisha asked, evidently confused. Clearly, there was more to Katherine than just being Kimberly's replacement and Tanya's friend.

"Aisha, Katherine was your teammate for a little while, too. Plus she's mine, Adam, and Tanya's. She comes around every time she's in Angel Grove," Rocky explained to his wife.

"You don't live in Angel Grove?" Connor asked, almost as if he couldn't believe it.

"Connor, not all of the original rangers live in Angel Grove. Dr. O lives here, after all," Ethan told his best friend, elbowing him lightly.

Kira rolled her eyes at the exchange between Connor and Ethan, although it actually made her feel better. Now that Ethan felt equal to Connor in knowledge, he was easily ribbing his red clad teammate and as a result, she could almost pretend nothing was wrong with her team, as she stepped closer to actually shake hands with Kat since no one else on the team seemed willing. "So where did you travel in from?"

"New York," Kat replied, as she shook Kira's extended hand, keeping Katie happily balanced on her hip. "Upstate. I teach at a year round boarding school, but the students are off for a few weeks of summer vacation. I was able to hope a flight as soon as I packed when Tanya called yesterday afternoon," Katherine explained.

"You're a teacher too?" Trent asked, frowning. He didn't miss that Katherine and Tommy had that in common. He looked at Kim to see what her reaction was to the fact that there was a commonality between the former ranger leader and the second pink ranger. Kim caught his look and sighed.

"Seriously," Kim laughed, shaking her head. She was getting a bit irritated with the entirety of dino thunder seeming to believe there should be some type of resentment or jealousy between her and Katherine. "Maybe when you're all older, you'll understand," she grumbled as Zack hugged her around the shoulders, and Adam actually got over his stupor and did the same with Kat.

"Actually, Tommy being a teacher is surprising," Adam told the dino thunder team, as well as Trini, Aisha, and Tanya. "But Kat started assistant teaching as soon as we graduated High School, so her career isn't so surprising," he added in, and Tanya actually nodded her agreement. Although she didn't know Kat at the moment during the time Adam was describing, she could definitely see her best friend going the education route when she got older.

"No, but Tommy's reaction was a little surprising," Katherine spoke up, peering around everyone to look out the back door. She couldn't see Jason or Tommy. They'd moved out of view. "I suppose he hates me," she added, passing Katie back to her father. "Maybe I shouldn't have come."

"Of course you should have," Kimberly scolded her. "And not just for Tanya," she added in. "Everyone should have been invited in the first place." She paused. "The morphing grid knew," she added softly, getting a few nods in agreement.

"And he doesn't hate you," Zack replied. "He just doesn't know you. Give Jason some time with him," the first black ranger insisted. "He'll come around."

Katherine sighed and nodded. "I suppose," she agreed, though a bit reluctantly. "So, who wants to tell me what actually happened?"

"Where do we even begin," Rocky laughed, as the group finally migrated towards the living room and out of the foyer. There was still some confusion among those who didn't know Katherine, but it was definitely starting to dissipate. Kim followed in last, casting a look of her own outside and hoping Zack was right about Jason being able to talk Tommy around because otherwise it was going to be a rough couple of days until Billy showed up.

* * *

Jason watched as Tommy paced back and forth in the back yard, not aware that Jason was standing on the deck, observing him. The green clad teenager was muttering something to himself, but Jason couldn't actually pick up on any of the words that were coming out of the boy's mouth. He was pretty sure that the first time Tommy had been this age, he hadn't been quite this excitable. Granted, he hadn't gotten some many surprises in a span of a few days. Tommy had been told he was living with the girl of his dreams, that he was a teacher and a ranger at the age of twenty eight, that he'd lost contact with his friends, that there were countless other rangers in his life, and that the girl he already loved would one day break up with him. Now he was being forced to actually meet a girl who he didn't know, but that he supposedly would date at some point. Jason really didn't blame the teenager for his anger or breakdown. However, he did blame the adult version. This was all his fault. Everything from his own regression and memory loss, to that of Jason's wife and the others, as well as the fact that there were now four former rangers present that Doctor Tommy Oliver was not even aware of. Jason had been having a nice quite vacation with his wife, kid, and friend in the mountains of Blue Bay Harbor. It was Tommy's fault he was stuck in chaos now.

"You're angry," he finally stated simply, knowing that the best way to talk to the frustrated green clad teenager was to be direct.

"Of course I am," Tommy replied, the look on his face at Jason's statement suggested that the grown man had lost his mind if he couldn't understand. Jason just nodded once.

"Then, by all means," he told the teenager. "Keep being angry," he added as he sat down on the steps of the deck to watch the teenager. Tommy frowned at him for a moment, trying to figure out the meaning in his friend's words. Deciding that there really wasn't any, aside from Jason allowing Tommy the breathing room he needed to be angry about the situation, Tommy actually sighed and let some of it go. Jason watched him for a few moments before opening his mouth to speak. "What are you even angry about this time?" Clearly, there were plenty of options, but Jason wanted Tommy to be the one to tell him. Only then could he get the teenager through it.

"I don't even know anymore," Tommy admitted after several moments of silence and staring at his feet. Jason knew the teenager's words were the truth. "I don't even know her! I have to date her?"

Jason laughed darkly. He shook his head. "You don't. A slightly older version of yourself will. And you'll know her then."

"But she's going to expect me to," Tommy argued, but couldn't bring himself to finish his statement of exactly what Katherine would expect of him.

"Bro," Jason began, smirking and trying not to laugh at the teenager. "Do I expect Trini to love me?" he paused. He wanted her to. He'd admit that to himself. But did he expect her to? Of course not. "You saw our relationship on Friday. She's my wife. But you knew her at fifteen. Would you say Trini loves me as a wife loves a husband now?"

"I guess not," Tommy stated, he turned and leaned back against the fence that surrounded the back yard. Jason sighed and stood up, walking towards him.

"I know she doesn't. And I won't push her to love me that way. Just like Rocky won't push Aisha to love him that way, and Adam won't pressure Tanya. Kim wouldn't pressure you into doing anything you're not comfortable with, and neither with Katherine," Jason stated.

"You can't promise that!"

Jason was a bit stunned by Tommy's shout. Normally the former green ranger was pretty rational. Katherine's arrival was really bothering him.

"You can't," Tommy added again, more quietly, looking down at his feet. Both were quiet for a few moments. "I'm not like Aisha, Trini, and Tanya," he muttered.

Jason was confused. He'd been regressed just like they had. None of them had any memories past their current ages. He frowned. He didn't get it. For once, Tommy was stumping him.

"I… this is my fault," Tommy suddenly blurted out and twisted, punching the wooden fence. It splintered slightly, caving in where his fist had attempted to penetrate it. Jason blinked at him for a moment. "I don't deserve this."

"Deserve what?" Jason asked. He wasn't going to argue with Tommy's assessment of the situation being all his fault. It was all his fault.

"You! You and Zack and Trini! And all the others. I don't deserve you coming to help with this. You told me so yourself," Tommy stated.

"I did no such thing," Jason stated. He didn't disagree, but Trini would have kicked his ass all the way to Angel Grove if he'd said that to Tommy as he was now.

The teenager however didn't acknowledge that Jason had even spoken and just kept going. "I pushed everyone away. I don't deserve to have anyone here to help now. Not you, not that other team, and not a girl who I'll probably break up with," he added. Jason blinked. Tommy knew. How did he know? Jason knew he hadn't told Tommy that he was the one to break up with Kat. He didn't think Kim would have. He wasn't even sure Kim knew how Katherine and Tommy's relationship had ended. Jason only knew because he'd overheard Kat and Tanya talking at a party during their third semester of college. It was before he'd broken things off with Emily. He'd even tried reacting out to Tommy afterwards, but the former ranger had sighted extra classes and responsibilities at his uncle's race track as reasoning for not getting together. Either way, Jason couldn't quite figure out how fifteen year old Tommy knew he'd be the one to break up with Katherine when they were both in college. "She should hate me. You all should hate me," Tommy stated. "I tried to kill you," he added.

So that was it. Of course that was at the root. Jason should have known. For the last few days he'd been putting on a brave face. But he'd been bottling it all up. His regret over being Rita's minion was eating at him, and knowing that in the future, he'd push his friends away, hadn't help.

Jason sighed, staring at the buckled wood of the fence. He could see Tommy's face in his peripheral vision. He didn't even know what to say. He'd been evil before. He remembered what happened on Muranthias. He regretted it too. But it hadn't been Tommy who'd almost died; hadn't been Jason who almost killed him. It had been Tommy who'd been desperately trying to save Jason then, before he'd decided he didn't need his friends anymore. Jason had never nearly succeeded in destroying his friends.

"Can I tell you something?" Jason finally began, turning to look at Tommy. "Like really be honest with you." Tommy frowned, and nodded. "I'm angry with you."

"You are?" Tommy stated, surprise on his face.

"Yeah," Jason continued, with a nod. "In fact, I'm pissed. You left us. You decided at some point that you were better off without us and we were better off without you. You've lied and told the others it was to protect them from the morphing grid. But it wasn't. You did it to protect yourself. You didn't want to get hurt, so instead you hurt us." Jason paused for a moment, but Tommy knew it wasn't so he could interject or argue. He couldn't argue. He didn't know anything about what Jason was talking about. He hadn't lived it yet. "And I honestly," Jason continued, "I honestly don't know if I can forgive you for it," Jason told him, admitting it out loud. Tanya and Aisha had forgiven him. Of course Kimberly had, and Katherine didn't have a bone in her body capable of holding a grudge. Trini would, Jason knew that. Adam and Rocky had clearly worked out their issues with Tommy, and Jason didn't doubt Zack would be back to cracking jokes with their former teammate the moment they got him back to normal. But Jason really had no idea if he'd ever be able to forgive Tommy for leaving him.

"I don't blame you," Tommy stated, quietly.

"But that's the thing," Jason told him. "You're not him. You're not the Tommy I'm pissed to hell at. You're not the Tommy I want to beat to a pulp with my bare hands. You're not the Tommy I'm unsure if I can forgive," Jason explained to him.

"What do you mean?"

Jason sighed, almost wondering if Tommy was being dense on purpose. He rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly, deciding that Tommy was just being fifteen. Something he couldn't help. "You have no knowledge of doing those things. The last thing you remember is me telling you that you belong on our team. That you belong with the power rangers. That is who you currently are. And that means, that it is my job, my duty, and my pleasure to help you, because right now, you are my friend," Jason explained to him. "And you're Trini's friend, and Zack's, and Kimberly's and Billy's. You haven't done anything to warrant our anger or us turning out backs on you. So we won't. And neither would Adam, Rocky, Aisha, Tanya, or Katherine. No one here," Jason paused. "No one here is angry with you. Not as you are now. And that makes all the difference."

Both individuals were quite for a few moments. Tommy was trying to take in everything Jason had told him. Jason was desperately wishing Trini could have been the one talking to Tommy. She'd have been much better than him at the job at hand.

"Can I ask you something?" Tommy finally spoke up, looking up and meeting Jason's eyes for the first time.

"Of course," Jason replied with a nod.

"What happens when Billy fixes this then?"

Jason paused. How did he even attempt to answer that? Tommy's question was a loaded one. Jason couldn't speak for what would happen with all of their other teammates. He could only answer for himself. What would happen when Tommy was back to normal? How would he feel about the man who'd once been his best friend? "Honestly Tommy," Jason stated, exhaling sharply. He reached up to the fence and traced the damaged wood with his finger. "I don't know."

"Oh," Tommy replied, and nodded. He sighed himself, crossed his arms over his chest, before pointing his face up to the sky and shutting his eyes for a moment. Silence descended on the two again, and Jason wished even more than Trini could have been there. He was wishing for his wife to take his place a lot more often than he was comfortable. "I grow up to be a real idiot," Tommy finally said, and Jason couldn't help but laugh in response.

"That's putting it mildly," Jason replied, clapping the teenager on the shoulder. "But you're not all bad," he added in. "Connor and his friends are proof of that. You trained some pretty awesome rangers," he added in. "And you're working on fixing things. Kim is evidence of that," Jason told him. And of course the baby, but Tommy didn't know about that yet, and Jason cared too much about Kimberly to be the one to tell the teenager.

"Kim will forgive me for dating someone else?" Tommy asked Jason, his mind going back the two pink clad women in the house. Jason nodded once.

"You should talk to them both yourself. They can explain things a hell of a lot better than I can," Jason told him, throwing one arm over Tommy's shoulders.

"Two of them? Jason, you want me to talk to two pink rangers at the same time?" By talk, Tommy knew Jason meant an actual meaningful conversation, like they were currently having, not just casual back and forth in the living room surrounded by countless other people that he either did or did not remember.

"They're not that bad," Jason laughed, his right arm still over Tommy's shoulder as he thumped the teenager on the chest with his left hand, and led the teenager back towards the house. "Kat's one of the nicest people in the world," he assured the teenager. "I'm sure if they apologized, she'd have forgiven Rita and Zedd for what they did to her."

"Did to her?" Tommy frowned, looking up at Jason.

"Kat started off like you," Jason told him. "Rita's henchmen," he added, seeing that Tommy hadn't quite grasped what he meant. That part of things hadn't been in the video history his older self had created. Jason could understand why. "You can talk to her about it yourself," Jason suggested, releasing the teenager at the base of the deck and walking up the steps. "You three should talk," he repeated when Tommy made to follow him. Before the teenager came back into the chaos, he needed to talk with Kat and with Kim, and Jason was going to make sure it happened. Tommy sighed, and nodded, looking down at his feet as he heard Jason enter the living room, closing the sliding door behind him. Only a few moments later, Tommy heard it re-open and close, as two sets of footsteps echoed on the wooden deck. Tommy looked up to meet eyes with Kim, and then Katherine, before he blushed and looked away.

"I'm sorry I was rude," he stated instantly, to both of them.

"It's alright Tommy," Katherine replied, and Tommy was startled to see a genuine smile and look of understanding on her face. Jason wasn't kidding. "You're confused about a lot of stuff. I'm sure my showing up didn't help matters."

"You came for Tanya though," Tommy replied, though he nodded to her response. "Everyone needs their friends."

"We were friends too you know," Kat told him, purposely using the past tense. She couldn't say that they currently were, because twenty eight year old Tommy hadn't spoken to her in years.

"Yeah," Tommy nodded. "I've been told," he added, looking at Kim, who gave him a reassuring smile. "Jason said we should talk," he added.

"Jason's usually right about that," Kimberly laughed in response and sat down on the steps of the deck. Katherine sat down beside her. Unsure for a moment, Tommy crossed his legs and sat down in the grass below them.

"What do you already know?" Katherine asked the teenage boy she didn't really recognize. She wouldn't know Tommy till he was just a bit older, and wearing white.

"That Kimberly passed her power to you, and that we um… we dated when Kim and I broke up," Tommy stated, uncertainty in his voice. "And Jason told me what Rita did to you," he added in, peaking at the blonde woman from under his eyelashes.

"That's the basics," Kim stated, resting her hand on Katherine's when Tommy brought up her rocky start. "But maybe details would help?" she asked both Kat and Tommy, squeezing her successor's hand for comfort.

Katherine nodded. She'd come for Tanya, but if she was honest with herself, she'd come because the current dilemma had given her a chance to force Tommy to repair their relationship. And he needed her and Kim to be honest with him. "I started off evil," Katherine stated, "working for Rita. Under her spell," she explained to the teenage boy. "Like you," she added.

"Kat helped Rita drive me to the point of exhaustion," Kimberly told Tommy. "But she showed strength of character and her good heart," she added, seeing that Katherine was having trouble continuing, and placing her hand on Kat's shoulder, "by breaking Rita's spell herself and rushing to my side when I got hurt. It was you," Kimberly told Tommy, "and Kat who convinced me not to give up on gymnastics," Kim stated. She didn't want to worry Tommy with the details of her injury. The fifteen year old did not need to know she'd been knocked unconscious and spent several days in the hospital as a result. "Kat also rescued my power coin from Rita and Zedd's possession. She was incredibly brave, honest, and kind," she added with a smile. "Which is why I chose her when, with your encouragement, I left for Florida to pursue gymnastics."

"I encouraged you?" Tommy asked, resting his elbows on his knees. He almost couldn't believe it.

"You loved her," Katherine assured him. "You wanted her to follow her dreams. You would have encouraged any of us to follow our dreams back then, Tommy," Katherine explained. Tommy sighed and shook his head. He didn't doubt that was true, but he already knew he loved Kim and he didn't like the idea of being part of what convinced her to leave him, physically at least.

"You already know I broke up with you," Kimberly told him. "Tommy, I wish I could say that I was at least kind to you when I did it," she added, looking away, and now it was Kat's turn to try and provide comfort. She didn't know why Kim had done it. Only Trini had known, as Kim had broken down crying and called her best friend the moment she'd done it. She'd written Aisha, too. Jason knew, of course, Trini had told him a few years later. And Tommy knew. Kim had told him four months before. The real Tommy, not the regressed teenage version. Kat wrapped her arms around Kimberly's shoulders and hugged her tight, knowing that whatever Kim's reasons, it had been hard for her and was hard even now, talking about it. "Tommy, I was cruel. I did that on purpose. I needed to do something to keep you away from me," she stated. "I wrote you a letter."

"You wrote me a letter?" Tommy parroted back. There was no way Kimberly, the sweet girl who'd introduced herself to him in the hallway at Angel Grove high school would have written him a break up letter from Florida.

"I did," Kim repeated, turning her head so she was looking at the ground and twisting her hands. "I was trying to protect you. Save you from having to fight to protect me, because I wasn't a ranger and couldn't protect myself."

"That's just dumb," Tommy replied, his face incredulous. Kim and Katherine instantly started laughing, and Kim wiped a couple of tears that had been threatening from her eyes. Out of the mouth of babes.

"Yeah," Kim laughed and agreed. "It was. Stupidest thing I've done in my entire life," she assured him. "We both made some stupid choices in our lives," she added.

"Tell me about it," Tommy replied, rolling her eyes and thinking back to his conversation with Jason. "So that's why I dated Kat? Because you dumped me? I did it for revenge?" That didn't sound like him. He could see being angry, but never wanting to hurt Kim in return.

"Teenagers," Katherine chuckled. "Of course not. Neither one of us would have done it just to hurt Kimberly. She's my friend and you still loved her," Kat told him.

"So why then?" Tommy frowned.

"Because we did like each other," Katherine told Tommy. "It didn't happen instantly. I was there for you when you were hurting," she added.

"That's what Kim said," Tommy stated with a nod.

Katherine chuckled again. "Of course she did. It was the truth," she added. "Tommy," Katherine stated. "There's no complex love triangle between the three of us. There's no anger or resentment or jealousy. You and Kimberly were in love, when you broke up, you and I dated for a little, and then we broke up. And you and Kim found each other again."

"Why did we break up?" Tommy couldn't help but question. Katherine had made everything sound so simple. Yeah, Kim's reason for breaking up with him was a stupid one, but at least she had a reason. And he'd dated Katherine. She said she liked him, and he assumed that one day, he'd have to like her if he agreed to date her. So why hadn't they spent years together? Why wasn't he married to Katherine? Why was it possible that he and Kim had found each other? "Kim wouldn't tell me."

"Tommy," Kimberly told him. "I don't know why, and even if I did, that's between you and Katherine. She can tell you if she'd like. I'll go," she added, moving to stand.

"No," Kat told her instantly, grabbing Kim's hand and pulling her back to a seated position. "Don't go," she added, and Kim nodded as she sat back down. Katherine gave her a small smile. "You want to know?" she asked Tommy, who set his face with a determined look and nodded.

"It was right after our first year of college," Katherine told him. "We'd just given up our powers, too," she added. "You asked me to meet you at the park," she told him. "Aisha had just come home from Africa. We'd all gone out to celebrate, even you, despite the fact that you'd spent the last few weeks pulling away from the rest of us. We knew something was different." Katherine paused, studying Tommy's face. It was unreadable. Kat wasn't telling him just about their break up. She was telling him how he'd started to 'break up' with his family. "You barely spoke to me at that point, let alone the others. But we all thought it was just that you were having a rough time adjusting to the lack of power. We all were. Feeling helpless wasn't something we were good at," she told the teenager. "So when you asked, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to be around the people I cared about, not away from them.

"Well, we sat down on a bench. One where we'd spent a good amount of time together in the past. And you told me about how busy your first year had been and how you were even busier with summer school and with working at your uncle track," Kat continued. "But you wouldn't come right out and say it. You didn't want to hurt me.

"You were always trying to protect us," Katherine told him. "I know you didn't want to any of us to get hurt. That's why you started pulling away," she added. "So I asked if you wanted a break from our relationship, when you couldn't bring yourself to say the words. And your face showed relief as you nodded."

"But I did hurt you," Tommy told her, keeping the knowledge Jason had imparted on him to himself. Katherine apparently didn't know one of the reasons Tommy had pulled away was because he was a selfish idiot. She thought highly of him. He didn't want her not to. He didn't want her not to know what would happen between them when he was normal again.

"A little," Kat told him with a nod, "because I still had feelings for you. But even if you hadn't been pulling away from all of us at the time, I know we still would have broken up then," she added.

"Why is that?"

"Because you still loved Kimberly," Katherine stated, turning towards her friend and hugging Kim, who'd listened to every word, around the shoulders. "I knew one day you'd find a way back to her. I'm glad it finally happened," she added.

"You are? But you liked me?"

"Tommy, you were my boyfriend for a short time, but you were my friend before that," Katherine explained to the teenager. "Friendship mattered more. You and Kim were meant to be together, and you both meant the world to me. Why wouldn't I be happy you found each other again?"

Tommy thought over what she said, dropping his eyes into his lap. All three of them were quiet until Tommy sighed and shook his head. "Adults are complicated," he stated simply, causing both former pink rangers to laugh at him.

"You'll be one soon enough," Kimberly told him.

"When does Billy get here?" Katherine asked.

"Friday! Two days. Please Zordon let me keep my sanity until then," Kimberly laughed, pushing herself to a standing position, she reached a hand down to Katherine, and then looked out to the horizon. The sun had just fully set and the stars were shining in the sky.

"We'll do our best to help you keep it," Katherine assured her. She tossed her arm over Kim's shoulder again, before looking at Tommy behind them. "You good?"

"It makes a bit more sense now," Tommy agreed, "by I still say adults are complicated. Maybe I should just stay a teenager," he added, coming up the steps to the deck.

"Don't you even think about it," Kimberly told him, giving him a slight shove in front of them so that he would enter the house. "I will kill you with your own dragon dagger if you even suggest that again," she added, with a bit of a laugh. Tommy gulped. Laughter or not, he had a feeling she was serious.

* * *

Thursday morning finally arrived much to the relief of the adult rangers. They were officially less than twenty four hours from Billy's arrival and therefore, hopefully, that much closer to the restoration of their regressed friends and therefore their sanity. As a result, most of the adults were in a much better mood than they'd been in the last few days, unless of course anyone counted the Monday night drunken adventure through downtown Reefside, which Kimberly did not, as it was stupid and she hadn't been invited.

They'd all chosen Tommy's house as a gathering place that morning before trying to determine what to do for the day. The consensus among the adults was to stay in. The original plan had been to hit the water park, but Kim, Jason, Kat, and Adam had voted against that as they felt the adults were too sorely out numbered. After getting pouts from all of the teenagers, as well as Rocky and Zack, Kim promised to reschedule the water park for some point after Billy fixed the mess they were in. Although that point was agreed upon, there was still quite a bit of begging from the teenagers, especially the three regressed women, to go out and do something. Kim finally agreed that the safest and most likely to be incident free outing would be a trip to the mall. It didn't hurt that there were a few things she wouldn't have minding picking up. However, at her suggestion, the eagerness of about half of the teenagers to leave the Oliver/Hart house immediately decreased, which was actually quite an enjoyable outcome.

As a result, it was finally agreed that Kim and Kat would accompany Tanya, Aisha, Trini, and Kira to the mall. They also agreed to take Katie and Tyler, as long as Rocky kept Luke with him. Jason had helped Rocky install Tyler's car seat in the minivan while Kimberly worked in the kitchen to transfer what she'd need for a trip to the mall from the purse she'd used earlier in the week to a cuter one that matched her outfit. Aisha and Kat had agreed the new purse was much cuter, while Trini and Tanya had watched with amusement as Kira rolled her eyes. She'd only agreed to go along to the mall because her other options were to spend the day at home alone or with the guys which defeated one of her goals of the reunion which had been to spend more time with other female rangers since that wasn't something she got to do on a regular basis. Finally, Rocky and Jason entered the kitchen, Rocky tossing the minivan keys to Kim while Jason gave Tyler a reminder to listen to Aunt Kim and Aunt Kat, as well as Mommy. Katie was already clinging to Aisha's hand, swinging it back and forth, quite excited to be heading to the mall, as all of the women and the two toddlers left the house just shy of eleven in the morning, leaving the house full with four adult former rangers, four teenager former rangers, and an infant.

The eight men spent most of the day talking and trading stories. In Rocky's opinion, they were doing what people were really supposed to do at reunions – reminisce. Ethan and Tommy both enjoyed that the stories of past ranger exploits helped them reconnect to teammates they didn't even know or understand the stronger bonds they had with the ones that they did recognize. Ethan even happily chimed in on one story that involved the dino thunder teens rescue of Tommy from the clutches of Mesogog's lair, as the he, Connor, and Trent finally fulfilled the promise of explaining to Tommy how he'd become the black dino thunder ranger. Tommy was quite pleased to hear he'd pretty much escaped on his own and hadn't needed too much help from Connor, Kira, or Ethan.

With Tommy as the only real "problem" for Jason, Adam, and Rocky present, all three were able to relax and let their guards down. Mentally they reminded themselves that they probably owed Kim, considering she'd taken three of the five regressed individuals to the mall with her. Still she'd had help. Katherine helped balance things and despite the fact that Aisha, Tanya, and Trini didn't know much about life in the early two thousands, how much could a mall really change?

By midafternoon, the eight guys where relaxed and spread out throughout the living room. Jason leaned back in Tommy's arm chair, while Zack and Adam each occupied a corner of the two seater love seat. Connor lay on his back on the sofa, tossing his soccer ball up and down. Jason eyed it, remembering that it was partial responsible for the current fiasco. Trent had dragged in a chair from the kitchen and was sitting in it backwards, his arms crossed along the top of the back, and his chin resting on it comfortably. Rocky lay on the floor on one side, his head propped up on his elbow as Luke pressed himself up onto his hands and knees and rocked back and forth. Ethan sat at the base of the sofa, his legs crossed, while Tommy stat on the floor between Zack and Adam, his legs spread apart and his knees pulled up, hands draped across them.

"Any more questions?" Zack asked, although it wasn't really made specific who he was talking to. Over the course of the day, their stories that had been told hadn't just been for the benefit of Tommy and Ethan. They'd filled Zack in on a few of the more random events that had taken place during their Zeo days. Adam and Rocky told some stories about what had happened after Jason and Zack left for the peace conference, and Connor and Trent had provided some stories to catch Adam and Rocky up on what happened with Mesogog after they'd gone back to Angel Grove four months before.

"Did we ever fight anything really weird, you know like maybe zombies were attacking us?" Tommy asked the group, a grin on his face. In response his older friends all began to grin.

"Dude," Connor laughed, "That really would be strange."

Trent chuckled and shook his head, picking it up off his arms. "Yeah, that only happens in movies," he agreed.

"Oh," Tommy stated, "I guess I just thought that with everything else going on, it could happen in real life, too."

"What'd you expect?" Rocky asked, "We'd come into the house and find zombies in the living room eating our pizza?" he started laughing. Everyone in the room, including Tommy laughed at that one. Jason was having a hard time keeping his tears of mirth from spilling out.

"No, no," Zack interjected through the laughter, "they'd be in the bathroom, taking a dump." That last line sent the group over the edge. Zack and Adam nearly fell from the love seat they were on, and Rocky was face down on the floor, attempting to contain his laughter. Jason was leaned forward, giving up and wiping the tears from his eyes. The four teenagers were in various states of being unable to contain their laughter or their positions, Connor's soccer ball having completely missed and rolled away from the teenager who held his stomach as he rocked back and forth.

"And on that note," Tommy stated, rolling his eyes, "I'm going to get a bottle of water," he added, still laughing a bit as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Grab me a beer, will you," Jason called after him. Tommy waved him off, indicating he'd heard, but Jason wasn't 100% sure if he was actually going to comply.

"Seriously, zombies?" Adam chuckled, "He really hasn't seen enough yet to realize that zombies are not even remotely weird. We've faced so much worse," he added.

"Yeah, there was a purse monster, wasn't there?" Jason asked.

"More than one I think," Rocky agreed with a slight laugh and nod. Each former ranger started thinking of the weirdest monster he could remember. There were quite a few, and each of the rangers started smirking. Zack even muttered "zombies" to himself a few times, not wanting to let the joke die.

"He's going to be crawling soon," Jason made a finally made remark to Rocky, who nodded and gave a chuckle in response. He nodded towards Luke on the floor. The baby boy had paused his rocking when the adults around him had dissolved into laughter, watching them with a curious look on his face, but once it had quieted, he'd gone back to it, babbling a bit as he did.

"The longer he takes, the better," Rocky replied. "Chasing one of them around is enough. It's going to be rough when they're both mobile," he laughed. Rocky righted himself and tucked his legs underneath him, sitting Indian style, like Ethan.

"I guess two would be a handful," Jason nodded agreement.

"Especially two miniature Rockies," Adam confirmed with a smirk at his best friend. Rocky laughed and nodded, not about to deny that both of his children seemed to have gotta a bit more of his personality than was good for his or Aisha's sanity.

"So, when are you going to grace the world with another Scott," Rocky asked Jason, scooping Luke off the floor and into his arms. A small crash was heard from the kitchen, as if something had been knocked over and its contents spilled out.

Everyone's heads turned in that direction, as Tommy's voice reached them. "It's alright. I'll clean it up," he stated.

"Go check on him," Jason stated with a frown and a shake of his head. His comment was directed at Connor, who nodded, tossing himself off the sofa. He nudged Trent on the shoulder and the former white ranger stood up to accompany him, as Rocky pushed himself to standing and fell onto the sofa, Luke's legs on top of one arm, his other arm wrapped around the boy's torso. "Well, we were planning to start that process right before Trini got herself zapped back into a child," Jason's voice followed Connor and Trent to the kitchen, trailed by laughter from Ethan, Zack, Adam, and Rocky.

"Dude, you ok?" Connor asked Tommy, as Trent walked passed the green clad teenager to grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator for himself. Trent chuckled slightly, wondering if Tommy, when he got back to normal, was going to kill Connor for calling him dude so many times. Tommy just shook his head in response. He was kneeling on the floor beside the kitchen table. A purse that had been resting on it, and its contents were spilled across the floor. In one hand, Tommy held a small yellow envelope, and a black and white photograph in the other. He was studying the photograph. "What'd you find?" Connor asked, as Tommy slowly straightened his knees. "That's a weird picture."

"That's not a picture idiot," Trent scolded. "It's an ultrasound," he added, opening his water bottle and drinking some. "You know, like of a baby," he added.

"A baby?" Connor asked. Tommy still hadn't said anything, but was studying the photograph. "You mean someone's pregnant?" he added, snatching the ultrasound from Tommy's hand. "Who?" Connor asked, and Trent shrugged, sipping his water bottle. Tommy stared at Connor strangely. "Trent, you and Kira haven't," Connor began and Trent immediately spit out the water in his mouth, coughing.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Jason's voice joined the group as Trent struggled to get himself under control, glaring at Connor. Tommy had stooped down and picked up the purse on the floor. Jason looked at him and studied his strange expression before letting his eyes drift to Trent and then to Connor and what was held in Connor's hand. "Oh…" Jason stated, his voice trailing off.

"What the fuck, Connor!" Trent growled. "We're eighteen!" he added.

"Well then who's?" Connor asked, completely oblivious to the eye contact Jason and Tommy were making. "Jason, is Trini expecting?" he asked, passing the ultrasound image to the Jason who took it numbly. Confused by the commotion in the kitchen, Adam, Rocky, Zack, and Ethan had all gathered in the entrance behind Jason, trying to figure out what's going on.

"Whose pink purse is that?" Zack asked, pointing at the hand back Tommy had clutched in his hands. The fact that the contents were still on the floor made it look like the teenager had been riffling through it.

"Pink?" Connor really wasn't paying a whole lot of attention at the moment, sort of stunned that Tommy had found an ultra sound. "Katherine's pregnant? No one ever said she was married."

"That's not Kat's purse," Jason finally stated slowly, regaining his voice. He slowly looked up from the ultrasound he'd been staring at to make eye contact with Tommy, whose face had apparently turned green but was going paler by the moment. He looked about ready to pass out. Despite the fact that Connor had been entirely confused about who the ultrasound image belonged to, Jason knew Tommy had pieced it together the moment he'd laid eyes on the image. It was the reason he was speechless and nearly catatonic.

"I…" Tommy's tongue stumbled over the words, as Zack snatched the ultrasound from Jason's had, confusion and disbelief on his face. Adam sighed and placed his head in his hand, as Zack passed the image to Rocky who held it with one hand, Luke balanced in the other. Ethan just watched confused, as Rocky's face showed clear surprise. "I… it… it's… it's Kim's." Tommy finally managed to speak the words. "I think I'm going to be sick."

* * *

So this chapter was quite a bit shorter than some of the other recent ones, by about 6K words or so. But I've had this cliff hanger ending in my head for months and I knew that were it was going to end. I don't have anything else written yet, so it's going to stick around for a bit, sorry. Still, you can image the fall out from this.

Also, hopefully all the Eyeshine fans picked up on the Easter Egg. That's been in the plan since before I started writing things. But it has more meaning now since this is the last year they're touring together, so I had to do it. If you have no idea who Eyeshine is, shame on you, and go youtube them. I'm sad they're breaking up, but I'm looking forward to what Where Giants Fall brings.

Anyway, like I said, Friday was my birthday, so yeah, reviews will be considered birthday presents.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed,

Fateless Wanderer


	23. Chapter 23

No long author note this time. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"No more clothing! Please, for the love of all that is holy, no more clothes," Kira begged, trudging along behind the rest of the group. She held one small bag in her right hand, while only Trini had remotely close to the amount of purchases she did, and that was with three bags of her own. Granted, one of the bags was from the toy store and held a couple of new dinosaurs that Tyler had insisted to his mother that he didn't yet own, but that he desperately needed. The rest of the group just laughed at her, and Kim, who was walking at the front of their group, Katie's hand clasped in hers, peered back over her shoulder.

"How you holding up, Kira?" she mocked the most recent yellow ranger who glared back in response, causing the Kat, Tanya, Trini, and Aisha to laugh at her, while Kimberly grinned.

"I should have stayed with the guys," Kira grumbled, slumping her shoulders.

"It's not that bad," Tanya told her, falling back to walk in step with Kira. The dark skinned teenager gripped her bags in one hand, and slung her free arm over Kira's shoulder. "How about if we hit a shop that doesn't sell clothing next?" she asked the girl who's dark blond hair was pulled back in a braid. Kira sighed. "You guys have any good music stores around here?" Tanya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, now that I can totally get into," Kira laughed and nodded. "Kim?" she called to the pink ranger at the front of the group. Kimberly had stopped outside of a children's clothing story and was studying the window display with a rather bizarre look on her face. Kira frowned. "Kim?"

"Hmm?" Kim snapped out it and turned to face Kira, while Katherine watched her, unsure.

"Thinking of getting something for Luke?" Kira asked Kimberly, gesturing to the display of rather adorable summer baby clothing on the manikins in the window, as mocking grin on her own face.

"What?" Kimberly asked, slightly confused. She looked back and forth between the window and Kira for a moment. "Oh," she laughed. "Yeah, maybe," she added. "We bought stuff for Katie and Tyler. I should probably bring Lukey back something," she defended herself.

"Right," Kira drew out the word and then shook her head. "Anyway," she stated. "Do you mind if we check out one of the music stores next?"

"Pay gowd," Katie suddenly squealed. Before Kimberly could react, Katie wriggled her hand free and made a mad dash toward the small mall play place the group was approaching. It wasn't surprising as the area was decked out in bright colors that were clearly meant to grasp the attention of juvenile minds. However, Katie's forward momentum was halted as Aisha dropped her shopping bags and lunged toward the toddler, wrapping her arms around the small girl's waist.

"Not this time, little one," Aisha scolded the girl, gripping her tightly and pulling her against her chest.

"Mommy," Katie giggled, "pay gowd, please!" she asked, straining out of her mother's arms toward the brightly colored jungle gym.

"I wanna play too, mommy," Tyler chimed in, tugging on Trini's hand.

"We'll take them," Trini stated, looking up at Kimberly and Katherine. "Seriously, we are old enough to watch them," Trini added with a laugh at the look both adults were giving her and Aisha who had nodded along with her predecessor's first statement.

"That's not exactly what I'm worried about," Kim replied, as Katie let out another chorus of "Please mommy", causing Kimberly to wince.

"Well, it's not like the world has never experienced teenage parents," Katherine laughed, as Aisha and Trini both blushed. "Just be prepared with cover stories if you need them," she reminded Aisha who nodded. Kat offered to take the teenager's bags along with her own, and Aisha willingly handed them over as Kim took Trini's.

"We'll come back and get you soon," Kim told the first two yellow rangers who both nodded and led the children towards the small play area. Kim sighed and scanned the space around her, her eyes falling on Kira and Tanya. Tanya was staring after Trini and Aisha as they left, but Kira was grinning at Kim, hands clasped behind her back. Kim cocked an eyebrow at the only real teenager in the group.

"Music store?" Kira asked, knowing Kim probably wouldn't be immensely keen on another of the regressed individuals going off somewhere in Reefside, especially with only one individual to act as chaperon. And considering what had happened the last time Tanya was away from any of the adults, Kira really couldn't blame Kim.

"Go," Kim stated, her eyes falling on the coffee shop they'd just past. "I could use a tea and a pastry," she stated. "How about you?" she specifically addressed Kat who laughed and nodded.

"Just be back in about a half hour?" Katherine offered to the two remaining teenagers who grinned, and offered the two adults their bags as well. Both former pink rangers rolled their eyes but nodded before watching the Kira and Tanya race off down one of the mall's corridors.

"Didn't think she was going to let us go," Kira laughed, as she and Tanya slowed to a normal walking pace.

"Why not?" Tanya laughed in response. "We're both adults."

"Well, me, yeah," Kira giggled, "but after what you did last time you were away from the 'adults'," Kira explained, throwing air quotes around the last word, "I doubt letting any of you guys out of their sight is their idea of a smart decision."

"I guess I should have just asked them to call Kat, huh?" Tanya replied with a slight blush on her features as they entered the store Kira had lead them to.

"Probably would have been a good idea, yeah," Kira laughed, slinging her arm over Tanya's shoulder. "And if they'd said no, I'm sure Adam would have explained why if you asked him. He loves you, you know that?"

"Yeah, which is a little weird," Tanya confessed to the actual teenager.

"Really?" Kira asked. She and Tanya began rummaging through the discount CD racks. Occasionally, they pulled one of the albums out and examined it a bit before placing it back in the rack. "You seemed pretty comfortable with the whole thing," Kira told the former yellow ranger.

Tanya smirked and nodded. "It's weird, but not unwelcome," she added. "I've known Adam's liked me for a while. I liked him too, but he is, or rather was, too shy to do anything about it," Tanya admitted. "I'm glad he apparently got over that," she added. "But still, it's weird to wake up and find out you're in love with one of your best friends."

"I guess I can understand that," Kira stated with a nod.

"You and Adam seem pretty close," Tanya told Kira suddenly, and Kira glanced up from where she was inspecting a multicolored CD case to find the dark skinned teenager starting at her.

"Yeah," Kira stated, "we kinda went through some bizarre shit," Kira laughed. "We just sort of get each other, you know. I can talk to him," she added. "Usually," she put in.

Tanya gave her a slight smile and nodded, casting her own gaze back down to the CDs. "He's definitely easy to talk to. Doesn't make you feel stupid for not knowing things. He helped me a lot when I first became a ranger," Tanya told her.

"You came from Africa, right? You switched places with Aisha?"

"Yep," Tanya laughed. "It was quite an adjustment. Adam and the others were great though. I got the hang of being an American and a ranger, pretty quickly," she added in. "No Way!" she laughed, pulling an album out of the CD rack. Kira frowned at her, watching Tanya study the cover of the small plastic wrapped square. "Hootie and the Blowfish is still releasing albums?" she asked, holding up a copy of 'Hootie and the Blowfish'. "That's just weird."

"Not everything has changed," Kira laughed at the teenager, shaking her head. "Good taste in music though," Kira laughed. "Well, guess that makes sense."

"What does?" Tanya asked, flipping the album over and reading through the track list.

"You do work for a recording studio," Kira stated nonchalantly, her attention back on the music she was flipping through. She wasn't paying much attention to the other teenager who was now staring at her, mouth open wide. After a moment of silence, Kira glanced up, feeling Tanya's gaze. She realized the yellow Zeo Ranger was stunned. "Ooops," she laughed. "Guess they hadn't told you that, huh?"

"A recording studio? Seriously?" Tanya grinned. "What do I do?"

"Honestly," Kira laughed. "I'm not sure. You'll have to ask Adam," she added in, shaking her head. "I probably shouldn't have told you that," she added, realizing the adults might not be too pleased if any of the teenagers started asking more questions that needed explanations.

"Kira!" a new voice interrupted, and Kira and Tanya shifted their attention away from the merchandise, as Tanya replaced the Hootie and the Blowfish album. Kira scanned the area, looking for who had called her name, and wasn't surprised to see Cassidy heading toward them from the entrance. The light blonde girl had a multitude of packages in her hands, suggesting she might have had more fun with Kim and Katherine all day than Kira had. Kira sighed, stealing the energy she knew she'd need anytime she had to deal with Cassidy.

"Hey Cassidy," she stated with a slightly tired grin on her face. "What's up?"

"Nothing much. Don't see you around the mall much," Cassidy stated.

"Cassidy, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean I don't do it," she laughed, shaking her head. "You've been doing a lot of shopping."

"This?" Cassidy asked, holding up her hands full of bags. She grinned playfully. "This is a light day," she added. "Devon normally carries the bags for me, so I can buy a lot more," she added with a giggle, and Kira shook her head. "Aren't you Ethan's cousin?" she suddenly shifted her attention to Tanya.

"Yeah," Tanya stated, with a nod, remembering the cover story they'd quickly come up with on Tuesday at Cyberspace. "Kira offered to show me around the mall."

"Where's your sister?" Cassidy asked, suspiciously. While Cassidy would never rat out Kira and the others, knowing they were rangers didn't make her any less nosey.

"She didn't want to come," Tanya stated simply. "Mall's not really her thing."

"Speaking of your sister," Kira added. "We should get going. We promised we wouldn't be gone long," she added. In reality, she realized that Cassidy could come across Aisha and Trini with Katie and Luke at the playground. Better to be safe and leave the mall before Cassidy caught them in a lie and then there would be countless more questions since Kira was pretty sure the blonde would remember the two children from the beach Sunday. Cassidy wasn't stupid. There was a distinct possibility that she'd be able to piece together what had happened, considering she knew about Tommy's problem. And then she'd want to know why the other newly minted teenagers weren't panicking. Questions, Kira knew, Kim and Kat would not want to have to answer.

"Oh crap," Tanya feigned, catching on to Kira's lie. "I didn't even realize the time. We should definitely head back," she added in.

"See you Cassidy," Kira stated, as she and Tanya quickly headed toward the exit.

"Kira," Cassidy called back, breaking out of the stun that Kira's quick declaration of leaving had put her in. Kira spun on her heels and looked at Cassidy, arching her eyebrow in question. Tanya paused as well and watched. "Any idea when Doctor Oliver will be back in town? I needed to ask him for a letter of recommendation," she added, trying to be cryptic. Kira understood the real question.

"His email said maybe this weekend," Kira replied as vaguely as she dared. Cassidy nodded once and Kira spun on her heels, grabbing Tanya's elbow and steering her out of the music store, where both teenagers broke into fits of laughter over the fact that Cassidy thought she knew more than she actually did. "Come on. Let's get the others and strongly suggest we head home before she comes sniffing around even more."

"And let's hope Billy can fix things soon," Tanya added with a laugh and a nod.

* * *

Jason was quite surprised that the teenager had managed to actually speak any words. Sick didn't really even begin to describe Tommy's appearance. His face was almost a ghostly white color with a tiny tinge of green underneath. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated to the extreme. They whites were growing more and more blood shot by the second, and Tommy had begun to sweat profusely, his mouth gaping open slightly as he tried to bring air to his lungs. The boy swayed on his feet a few times, as he drew his right hand to his forehead, the only voluntary movement he seemed to be capable of. Trent noticed immediately, all of their attentions having been shifted to Tommy the moment he'd spoken and revealed the truth behind the ultrasound, which while old news to some was actually quite a shock to others. The white clad teenager lunged forward and caught Tommy from behind underneath his arms as the teenager swayed again, before helping him into a chair. Trent's movement seemed to spark movement in each of them, as Tommy grabbed his head with his other hand and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his eyes clearly unseeing the world around him. A few strangled sounds escaped past his dry lips as he panted.

"Easy now," Jason told him, stepping forward and placing on calming hand on Tommy's shoulder. Trent released the younger boy and stepped back. Dino thunder's former white ranger cast a hesitant and stunned look at Connor who met his gaze with one of confusion and maybe a tad bit of revulsion. Connor frowned, concern for Tommy evident on his face, and shrugged at Trent.

"He's not serious is he?" Zack leaned over and stated to Rocky who still clutched the ultrasound photo. Both former rangers were studying the image, attempting to actually make out what they knew to be a growing fetus in the image. "There's no way Kim's pregnant," he added in, frowning.

"It explains a whole lot more than it doesn't," Rocky replied back as he pieced together Kimberly's strange behavior over the last six days he'd been around her. The signs had clearly been there. She hadn't touched alcohol or caffeine. She was an emotional wreck, and just that morning he'd though she looked a little sick to her stomach when he'd been describing the continental breakfast they'd had at the hotel before heading over to Tommy's for the day. He was a bit ashamed that, considering he'd been through two pregnancies with Aisha, he hadn't already figured out that the former pink ranger was expecting a child. "The signs that she's having a baby have been there. The ranger chaos just helped mask it a bit," Rocky stated.

"You two are not helping," Adam scolded Zack and Rocky, looking at Tommy who did not seem to be calming down. Instead it looked like he was about to start hyperventilating. He'd clearly heard words like "pregnant" and "baby" from the first black ranger and the second red one. Adam placed one hand across his chest, clutching the side of his face with his palm. "Kim is going to kill us," he added in, realizing that her secret being out would definitely be enough to set the pink clad woman over the edge.

"Tommy, you have to take a deep breath," Jason told the boy. "You need to breathe," he instructed. At this point he had both of his hands on Tommy's shoulders and was standing in front of him, worry that Tommy may still have passed out. If he wasn't so concerned, he would actually have been a little amused that, for once, roles were reversed for Tommy and Kim. This time she was the one making him faint. "Look at me. Look at my face and focus on my voice. Come on and just breathe."

"You knew?" Rocky asked Adam, frowning. "You knew and you didn't tell me?" Unthinking, he passed the ultrasound image to a stunned Ethan who hadn't contributed to the conversation at all. Ethan was attempting to piece together what was going on, which was a bit difficult considering that his mentor was currently only fifteen years old, and he didn't have any real idea of who Kimberly was, or why it would matter that she was pregnant. He had lots of questions, but considering Tommy looked on the verge of his brain exploding, the former dino thunder blue ranger kept his mouth shut.

"How long have you known?" Zack added in, directing his comment on Adam, and ignoring Tommy and Jason. His eyes wide and accusatory. "Man, betrayal. You're supposed to have a connection with me," he laughed slightly. While the shock was definitely not wearing off for Tommy, Zack and Rocky were acclimating a lot better and faster to the news that their Kimmy was expecting a child.

"Wait? Adam knew? How is that?" Connor asked, looking over his shoulder. Adam glared at the three of them, and rolled his eyes, about to state something.

"Will you guys shut up?" Jason hissed over his shoulder. "You are not helping matters at all." He turned back to focus on Tommy, drawing everyone else's attention to the fifteen year old. The tone in the first ranger leader caused everyone else to instantly shut up, startled by how forceful he'd been. "Tommy," Jason stated, now that the peanut gallery behind him was quiet. "You need to say something."

"I…" the teenager attempted to croak out. He lifted his head slowly and made eye contact with Jason, who watched him closely, still not entirely sure the teenager wasn't going to pass out on him. "I… it… huh?" he managed. Jason sighed and open his mouth to speak, but Tommy took that moment to actually find his voice. "Kimberly's pregnant?" he asked, pushing himself out of the chair suddenly, startling Jason who jumped backwards. Connor, Adam and Zack all watched wide eyed, and Trent barely caught the chair as it toppled in reverse due to the abrupt forward moment of its former occupant. Even Ethan was watching the younger teen, his eyes like a deer in the headlights. "As in she's expecting a baby?" Tommy continued without waiting for an answer from one of the others around him. He locked both hands behind his back for a moment before he began to pace back and forth. However, his hands didn't stay locked for more than a moment before he thrust them in front of himself and began to wring them as he walked back and forth. "There's a life growing inside her," Tommy went on, not even really taking a breath in between his statements. He locked his hands behind him again as he studied the floor, his face still pale, his wide and feverish. "How did this happen? I mean, I know how it happened. But how," he stressed the three letter word, "did it happen? Why did it happen?" Everyone else had realized that Tommy wasn't actually talking to anyone except himself as his regressed mind pieced together what was happening. Granted, Adam and Rocky were pretty sure this would have been Tommy's actual reaction, even if he hadn't been regressed physically and mentally into a fifteen year old. "I'm going to be a father? I can't be a father! I'm fifteen! Fifteen year olds don't make good fathers. But they told me I'm not really fifteen. Does that mean I'm not really the father?" Tommy continued to rant as he paced. "Kimberly's pregnant," he repeated, suddenly coming to a stop mid pace. He exhaled sharply and unexpectedly looked up at Jason, a questioning gaze in his eyes. "Is it mine?" he managed to squeak out, gulping and biting his lip.

Jason blinked, not imagining he'd have been addressed amidst Tommy's panicked tirade. The look on Tommy's face was pained. Jason could tell the boy didn't even know what he hoped the answer be. Sure, in his tirade Tommy had even claimed the unborn child as his own, but Jason knew that was just the subconscious ramblings of the teenager's mind holding itself together. In actuality, Tommy had no idea if Kimberly's child was also his own, and both possibilities terrified him to the extreme. If Jason told him that the baby wasn't his, Tommy knew he'd have been destroyed. He'd have panicked worse than he already was. Everyone had assured him that he and Kimberly were together in his future. If the child she was carrying wasn't his, it meant that she had been with someone else. They had lied to him. What else had they lied about? Was Rita alive? Was the last week all an elaborate ruse? Was he in some extremely detailed and insidious dark dimension? But if that was the case, why would they have bothered making Kimberly pregnant? His head hurt just trying to follow the bizarre logic his brain came up with. On the other hand, the child could be his. But that would have meant that he'd had sex with Kimberly. He, Tommy Oliver, had had sex with Kimberly. His brain wouldn't even entertain the idea. Instead, every time he thought that the baby might be his, he was met, in his mind's eye, with the evil blue screen of death he'd seen on Cyberspace's computer on Friday afternoon.

"Jason?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. "Is it mine?" he repeated. He needed the answer.

Jason exhaled sharply, and bit his lip. He nodded once. In his mind, Tommy watched a nuclear explosion occur in what may have once been his brain. He staggered backwards again, his face almost completely devoid of anything resembling a flesh tone. This time both Trent and Connor dove forward to catch him under each arm as he fell backwards, his eyes rolling up into his head as he lost consciousness. The two older teenagers dragged him back slightly and deposited him into the chair, where he slumped, his head dangling forward, chin resting on his chest.

"That's what makes him pass out?" Zack laughed sarcastically, mimicking Adam's earlier pose, one hand over his chest, the other holding his chin and cheek in his palm. He smirked and shook his head at the fifteen year old version of his friend.

Jason, who had one hand clutching rubbing the top of his head and eyes, slowly let the hand slide down his face. "Man, how would you have reacted if at fifteen you were told you'd had sex with Angela?"

Zack's smirk disappeared and he blinked rapidly a few times as he processed. Connor, Ethan, and Trent had absolutely no clue who Angela even was and even they wore smirks as Zack's face paled slightly. Adam and Rocky laughed slightly at the first black ranger who shook himself from his stupor quickly. "Ok fair point," Zack replied, leading the way into the actual kitchen, rather than standing in its entrance. He pulled a second chair up near Tommy's prone figure and turned it backwards, straddling it, and resting both of his palms of the back of the chair. Adam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, as he crossed his ankles and leaned back against the kitchen counter.

Jason scanned the kitchen, examining all the faces around him, his eyes finally settling on Ethan who still held the ultrasound image. He stepped over to the dark skinned teenager and took the offending item gently before looking back around. The tiny kitchen felt even smaller now that they were all crammed into it. "Connor, Trent," he stated, "why don't you two take Ethan and go find something to keep yourselves busy," he suggested, hoping the teenagers would realize he meant forget about what they'd just learned, or at least keep the information to themselves. "Let us handle this?"

"Yeah, sure," Trent replied immediately, noticing the questioning look on Connor's face. The former red ranger was about to retort, when Trent grabbed him by the back of the shirt and lead him out of the kitchen. Ethan sighed and shook his head, following both of his former teammates. A moment later the three adult men heard the back door slide open and then shut, indicating that the teens had gone out back.

"What do you suppose we do with him now?" Rocky asked, frowning at Tommy. He shifted Luke's weight so the boy was balanced on one him, supported by one arm. He used his other hand to snap his fingers in front of the unconscious teenager's face. Tommy didn't even respond when his snaps were less than an inch from his nose.

"Do with who?" Jason's reply was interrupted by an entirely feminine voice, and now it was the first red ranger's turn to go as pale as a ghost. Kimberly walked into the kitchen, unslinging her messenger style purse from over her shoulder. Her hair spun around as she did, obscuring her view for a moment. Kat was right behind her, while the guys could hear the chatter of Tanya, Aisha, Trini, Kira, Katie, and Tyler entering the house in the foyer. Jason barely processed the sounds of the two toddlers dragging their regressed mothers and aunt, as well as their friend Kira out back to join the "big boys" as Tyler put it.

"Uh…" Jason's voice caught in his throat as all three former ranger adult men froze at the arrival of the two former pink rangers. Kimberly frowned and looked up, meeting Jason's pale face and stunned expression with a questioning look of her own before she scanned the kitchen, her eyes settling on Tommy's prone figure.

"Jason!" she shouted, rushing to be closer to him. Adam jumped out of the way so that she wouldn't knock him over as she ran. She knelt beside him as Kat realized what Kimberly saw and gasped, covering her mouth with both of her hands, her eyes going wide. Kimberly immediately placed two fingers on his throat, feeling for a pulse. "What happened? Is he alright?"

"He's fine Kim," Zack explained from his seat, his position still relaxed. "Just got a bit of a shock and fainted."

"Come again?" Kimberly stated, frowning and standing up. Tommy never fainted.

"You know," Zack laughed, "when something completely unexpected happens and your brain can't process the information, and you sort of just pass out. Kind of like you do when Tommy revealed he was the white ranger?" He folded his arms over the back of the chair and leaned forward, propping his chin up. Adam and Rocky bit down hard on their lips, attempting not to laugh at Zack.

"Zack," Kimberly's tone was warning, "what's going on?"

Jason sighed and ran his free hand over his face, stepping closer to Kimberly, an apologetic look on his face. He held his right hand to his cheek and extended the left towards Kimberly, his fingers wrapped carefully around the ultrasound. "He accidentally found this," Jason explained, as Kimberly's eyes went wide. She felt Kat step up behind her.

"I thought so," Kat laughed gently, placing one hand on Kimberly's shoulder. "Congratulations," she added, hugging the shorter former pink ranger, who didn't even react, around the shoulder quickly, before turning to Adam, Rocky, and Zack. "Come on you three. Let's let Kim and Jason handle this," she added, giving them each a pointed look. Zack immediately hopped up. As much as he was enjoying the fact that it was Kim who had finally made Tommy faint, he did respect that this was definitely not something he needed to be part of. Adam and Rocky followed as Kat lead the group out to the back yard, and Kim and Jason heard Rocky suggest starting up the grill. Trent offered to grab the burgers that were stored in the chest freezer on the deck, before the sliding back door shut again, canceling out all sound.

Kimberly stood silently, grasping the ultrasound with both of her hands as Jason let go of the image, and thrust both of his hands into his pockets. Kim's eyes darted between the image, Tommy, and Jason's face. Finally she swallowed and blinked. "How?" she mouthed.

"He knocked your purse over accidentally," Jason explained with a shrug. He nodded in the direction of the contents that were still spread out near the base of the kitchen table. The small envelope that had held the image was directly near her feet. Kim blinked at it for a moment, before looking back at Tommy and sighing. "It really wasn't his fault. It's not like he rummaged through it on purpose," Jason continued.

"I guess," she stated, reluctantly. She wanted to be mad at him. She hadn't wanted him to find out this way. And she wasn't exactly thrilled that his reaction was fainting. She glared at him for a moment before composing her features and turning back to Jason. "I guess," she repeated with a sigh before stooping down to gather up the spilled belongings. "So everyone knows now?"

"I don't think Tanya does," Jason laughed, running his hand over the back of his head. "Or Kira," he added. "Trent, Connor, and Ethan won't say anything," he added in. "Billy doesn't know, or your friend Haley," Jason chuckled. Kimberly smirked and rolled her eyes as she stood back up, reaching over and pulling her emptied purse closer, dumping the items into it.

"Any idea how to wake him up?" Kimberly asked Jason, looking at Tommy and sighing. She crossed both of her arms over her chest and started at the teenager.

"Kissing him seemed to work last time," Jason laughed, referring to Tommy catapulting himself out of the guest room bed and plastering himself against the wall when Kimberly had finally gotten home from Paris. "Although it was the idea of sex that kind of put him in this state. Not sure if you should let him live for that," Jason told her.

Kimberly smirked, smacking Jason on the chest with the back of her hand and shaking her head. "I'm serious," she added. "He can't stay like this."

"Here," Jason told her, drawing her attention away from Tommy. She frowned when she realized he was offering her a pack of smelling salts, before her gaze became questioning and she opened her mouth to ask where he'd gotten them from and why he had them. "Don't ask," he told her with a laugh. "They're from the night you forbid us to speak of," he added, seeing that she wasn't about to obey his command.

"Gotcha," Kimberly replied, snatching the small packet out of his hand.

Jason just nodded once. "I'll leave you to it," he told her, turning and heading out of the kitchen to join the rest of group in the back yard.

Alone, save the unconscious teenager, Kim stared at Tommy for a few moments, willing herself not to break down. Finally she ran her hand over her forehead and sighed. "Oh handsome," she stated, a bit of sarcastic amusement in her voice as she turned the chair Zack had left next to the teen and dropped into it. She propped one elbow up on the table beside her and leaned her head against her palm, watching Tommy from under her eyelashes. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked the passed out boy. She watched him for a moment, studying the steady rise and fall of his chest. She let her eyes travel up to his face, examining the contours. They were familiar, but not nearly as angular as she wished they were. His hair was longer and thicker, something she actually found she no longer missed now that she saw him every day. The short spiked style suited the real version of her boyfriend. The teen lacked Tommy's normal five o'clock shadow. In fact, Kim was pretty sure that if his razor had even moved from its position in the bathroom all week, it had only been once. The boy was a far cry from the man whose child she was carrying. Her heart plummeted into her stomach for a moment before she sighed and shook the thoughts from her head, setting the ultrasound image down on the table and tearing open the packet of smelling salts with both hands. Kim wrinkled her nose when the smell reached it, and instantly brought her other hand up to pinch together her nostrils before she held the packed under Tommy's nose.

Just as it had on Monday night, the smelling salts caused an instant reaction on the unsuspecting victim. On his next inhale, Tommy jerked awake, sputtering and coughing as he tried to expel the scent of ammonia from the interior of his nasal passages. His eyes watered with tears as the smell seem to singe his nose hairs. Kim balled the packet up in her hand and tossed it into the trash can while she waited for the disoriented teenager to get his bearings. It didn't take long for him to locate her, his glare and desire for revenge against whomever had woken him in such a rude manner dissolving as he blushed a deep red – the most color he'd had on his face in a while. Kim smirked at him as his eyes darted to the floor in front of him.

Tommy may have been disoriented and at first unable to figure out what was going on or why he had suddenly found himself in the kitchen. For a moment he couldn't remember what had just occurred. However, the moment his eyes had fallen on Kimberly everything had come crashing back, but rather than going pale and sick at the thought, the fact that the woman he'd apparently had sex with sitting across from him caused him to blush nearly the same color as one of the ranger suits he'd wear in his future. She was pregnant with a child. But not just any child. She was having his child. How did he even attempt to face her ever again?

"Hi," she laughed, "welcome back to the land of the living," she added, entertained when the red color on his cheeks flared again. Tommy muttered something, but it was pretty much incoherent. Kimberly couldn't even have begun to guess what he'd said. "Not going to look at me, huh?"

"Can you blame me?" Tommy retorted after a moment of silence in which he'd shaken his head in the negative. He did, however, turn his head slightly toward her and glance up for a moment before returning his gaze to his ever so engaging shoes.

"A little, yeah," Kimberly told him. "This is kind of your fault," she added, and Tommy snapped up to look at her, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide. Kimberly laughed. His fault? How on earth was this, whatever madness this was, his fault? "Well, not yours, per sea, but a version of you," Kimberly amended.

"You mean, this happened before…" Tommy paused, trying to find the right words to express himself. "Before I got regressed?"

Kimberly burst out laughing, tears spilled over her eyes as she wrapped her arms around her torso and rocked back and forth, her body shaking with giggles. Tommy watched her, as if she'd snapped. "Oh god," Kimberly finally breathed through her laughter. "Man that's funny," she added in, slowly regaining control of herself after several moments of uncontrollable mirth at the teenager's expense. "Tommy," she giggled. "Of course I conceived before you regressed. One, if we'd done anything afterwards, you'd remember. The worst that happened was I kissed the back of your neck. You're a smart kid. You can't make a baby from neck kissing," she laughed, almost dissolving back into hysterics when Tommy blushed as he realized how stupid he must have sounded. "And two," she added, holding up two fingers, reminiscent of a peace sign. "While you are currently beyond adorable," she explained, her mind going back to the fact that the teenager didn't even really need to shave much at the moment, "I'm not the least bit sexually attracted to you."

"You're not?" Tommy blurted out before he thought his statement through. Kimberly giggled.

"Oh handsome," she laughed, leaning over and wrapping him in a hug. "No sweetie. Not at all," she added. "But it's just because I'm grown up, and you're not," she told him, hoping to ease his wounded pride. Judging by how he'd looked at her over the last few days, Kim knew that while she might not have been interested in a fifteen year old version of Tommy Oliver, the same could not be said of his attraction to her. "You understand?"

Tommy sighed and nodded. It did make some sense. If she was attracted to him, it would have made her a pedophile. Tommy was pretty sure Kimberly was not that type of person. Not when she was younger and not in her future that he clearly didn't fully understand. "So…" he stated after they were both quiet for a moment. "Is it a boy or a girl?" he asked, attempting to make it seem like he was ok with the newest revelation.

"It's a little too early to tell," Kimberly told him with another laugh. She stood up and ruffled his hair like she would have done to a kid brother, before walking over to the counter. She gripped it for a moment with one hand on each side before she sighed and turned back around to face him, flipping her hands, but leaving them attached to the counter. She leaned backwards and studied his face for a moment. "I don't expect you to be ok with this, or to do anything about it, you know," she told him. "Technically, it's not your responsibility."

"But," Tommy began, "you've been sick in the morning. I've heard you," he told her. Kim blushed. She thought she'd been pretty quiet and that Tommy hadn't caught on. Granted, he was fifteen and too innocent for his mind to even have explored the idea that there was a reason other than some weird stomach bug that was making Kimberly sick in the mornings. "I should be there."

She gave him a slight smile and shook her head. "I'm alright," she assured him. "I promise. And Billy gets here tomorrow. How about until then, you just pretend you never found this out?"

"Easier said than done," Tommy sighed and turned to the table. He folded both his arms on the surface and laid his head down in them, his eyes falling on the ultrasound Kim had left there. "It's really a baby?"

"Yeah," Kimberly replied softly watching him. She let her eyes drift off to the floor.

"I'll be happy you know," he suddenly told her, and Kim looked up, her gaze settling on him. He'd turned around and was facing her again, the ultrasound held in one of his hands. "I mean," he went on, blushing slightly. "It's weird right now," he added, "but when Billy fixes this, I know I'm going to be really happy to be having a baby with you," he explained, a shy smile on his features. Stunned for a moment, Kim felt her stomach flip flop and her smile finally reached all the way to her eyes in response. There was nothing she could really say to express her gratitude for what he'd just told her, and Tommy knew that. Even at fifteen, he knew he'd just done the only thing that could have brought her even a little bit of comfort, and that was all the two of them needed at that moment.

* * *

"Alright, let's fire up the grill, I'm starving," Rocky stated as he, Adam, Zack, and Kat joined the teenagers in the backyard.

"Burgers are in the ice chest," Trent called in response from across the yard. The former red ranger nodded a thanks and passed the infant he was carrying to Kat before he and Zack went to start cooking dinner for the group. The baby yawned and laid his head on Kat's shoulder. The former pink ranger let out an "aww" and carried the small boy over to the shade where she sat on a bench and began to rock him back and forth, humming.

"Where are Kim, Jason, and Tommy?" Kira was sitting on the edge of the deck. She had her feet crossed at the ankles, and her hands on each side of her, fingers wrapped over the edge of the wood as she swung her legs back and forth and watched everyone else. Trini, Aisha, and Tanya sat in the grass underneath one of the trees showing off their purchases from the day. Since Monday afternoon the three of them had been trying to bond with each other, considering all those who hadn't been regressed insisted they knew one another fairly well. Their color bond through the morphing grid was helping them have an easier time establishing a relationship with one another. Kira's three teenage teammates were on the other end of the yard playing with Connor's soccer ball and Katie and Tyler. The toddlers were attempting to kick the ball, only occasionally having success as Connor, Trent, and Ethan encourage them or attempted to "guard" the makeshift goal they'd set up.

"They'll be out in a minute," Adam replied, folding his legs beneath him and sitting down beside her, his own hands mimicking her position. "Had to address some things," he added, looking past the most recent yellow ranger to his own regressed former teammates, his gaze falling onto Tanya.

Kira nodded understanding and then followed his stare. "How you holding up?" she asked the older ranger. Adam opened his mouth to reply, a variety of responses coming into his mind. However, when he turned, he realized, she was watching him carefully. He sighed and smirked, realizing that whatever lie he'd been about to tell, Kira would see right through it. Instead he just shrugged, before hanging his head and shaking it. "That bad, huh?" Kira asked.

"We're getting married in two months. What if Billy and Haley can't fix this?" Adam voiced his fear to the teenage girl, who reached up and placed a hand on his shoulder. She didn't answer in his question. She didn't need to. He could understand her thoughts, just like she seemed to be able to sense his. Neither of them had ever really spoken about their connection to anyone else. They knew what it was, and it didn't worry them. It was kind of a reasonable consequence of spending an entire day as one another and living to talk about it. Adam sighed and nodded, taking comfort in Kira's unspoken words. Of course Billy and Haley would be able to fix it. Kira had no doubts and she wanted Adam to feel the same reassurance she did. He could feel it through their connection, and she knew he did. "How'd your day go?" Adam asked her. "Too much girly time?" he implied, gesturing to the fact that she wasn't under the tree with the other three former yellow rangers.

Kira wrinkled her nose remembering how a good majority of her day had been spent waiting for most of the others to try on outfits in the dressing rooms. Still, there'd been a few shops where she'd gotten in on the fun of the impromptu dressing rooms. And the day hadn't been all clothing and cosmetics. "It wasn't horrible," Kira laughed, drawing out the last word. "You know," she added, looking out towards her three predecessors. "I know you're miserable, but I'm a bit glad this happened. It's been fun to get to know them like this. I mean, I already kind of got to meet Aisha when she was my age, but getting to know Trini and Tanya's been pretty cool."

"It's going to be different though when everything's back to normal," Adam told her with a nod. He understood, a little, if he tried to get past his discomfort. "They're not really going to have memories of knowing you while they were teenagers," Adam explained. "It won't be how it is for us," he added. Kira rolled her eyes.

"Adam," she laughed, "nothing could make it how it is for us," she chuckled, leaning in and bumping his shoulder with her own. Adam shoved her back playfully and rolled his own eyes. "She's really cool, you know," Kira stated after a moment, and Adam frowned at her. "Tanya," Kira added, with emphasis, as if she couldn't understand how he'd missed that mental message.

"Oh," Adam laughed, looking past her to study his regressed fiancé again. Tanya was leaning over and whispering something to Aisha who was watching Rocky. The younger teenager blushed, and all three girls broke into giggles, indicating that whatever she'd said, Trini had clearly heard it as well. "Yeah," he added, a slight blush appearing on his own cheeks as he realized he'd been looking at Tanya a little more than was appropriate for an adult male and an eighteen year old, despite the fact that Tanya insisted she was legally an adult as well. "She is," he paused. "It means a lot that you think so," he added after a moment.

"Why does my opinion matter?" Kira asked him, frowning. She tilted her head up to look at him, as Adam shrugged.

"It's hard to put into words," he stated. "You've known me since before Tanya was even in my life, which is weird, considering you're ten years younger," he stated, and they both laughed as Kira nodded her understanding. "Then there's the whole body swap connection thing," he added. "You've… you're kind of like a sister," he added. "Like Kim, Aisha, and Kat," Adam explained. "Except younger," he laughed, wrapping the arm closer to her around her shoulder and pulling her into a one armed hug. He laid his chin on top her head. Kira scowled at him and laughed, pushing away a bit.

"So, you're a big brother then?" she asked, cocking one eyebrow up at him as she leaned away slightly, as she pieced together the deeper meaning behind his words. He liked that she approved of Tanya. He thought of her as a sister, but not just any sister; a younger sister. Her scowl became a playful glare, as Adam grinned mischievously in response. "I take it Trent has your approval then?" she asked the former black ranger.

"As long as he doesn't hurt you, I won't have to kill him," Adam told her simply in response, glad Kira had understood how he felt about her. He was going to protect her from whatever an older brother was supposed to protect a younger sister from. Whether she liked it or not. "But it's not just that," he added. "You can talk to me about anything."

"Hmmm," Kira mumbled in response as Adam withdrew his hug. She shifted her gaze back to her feet, contemplating how he'd so expertly turned the conversation back on to her issues. She swung her legs back and forth, refusing to acknowledge his presence any longer. Adam smirked, knowing she was trying to make him give up and go away.

"I was a lot worse than you when it first happened," Adam continued, ignoring that she wasn't talking to him.

"Yeah, and then you realized 'Once a ranger, Always a ranger'," Kira spoke the last part in a mocking voice. She glared at him. This conversation was supposed to be about him, not her. And she really didn't want to hear it. Why couldn't he understand that she wanted to wallow in self-pity for a little while?

"Just shut up and listen, will you?" Adam scolded her, though his tone was gentle. He shook his head. "Geez," he added. "You're taking this little sister thing literally, aren't you," he added with a sarcastic laugh. Kira glared at him, and then sighed. "Like I was saying, I was a lot worse than you. I wouldn't even wear my colors," he told her. That revelation caught the teenage girl off guard. Kira frowned at him, and Adam nodded, looking down at the grass beyond his own feet. "I was in a dark place for a while. The first few weeks were rough. I was cold, distant, and I pretty much hated the world," he confessed. "I was mean to the people who cared about me and just wanted to help," he added.

"That doesn't sound like you," Kira argued as she pulled her legs up to sit Indian style. She placed her elbows on her knees and propped her chin in her hands.

"But it was," Adam confirmed. "While Tanya and Kat argued that we'd been given an opportunity to have a life outside of saving the world, I didn't quite see it the same way. I felt like I'd been forced to give up my powers. Like they'd been stolen from me. I was angry at our mentor Dimetria for it. I was mad a Zordon for leaving us with someone who would make us give up our powers. I was angry at Tommy for pulling away. I was angry at Kat and Tanya for being somewhat ok with it. It seemed like everyone else was handling it better than I was, and I was alone." Kira blinked at him a couple of times and then looked at Trent, Connor, and Ethan. Sure, they were all powerless, but they were still together nearly all the time. She was upset that her powers were gone to the point that she was actually angry about it. But despite that, Connor had was enjoying his summer of doing nothing. He was looking forward to the end of summer when he'd begin working at a soccer camp and then coaching while taking some classes at the local university. Ethan had MIT. Sure, when he was in his right state of mind, there was some reluctance in the dark skinned boy to leave Reefside and move across the country, but deep down, even though he'd miss being with them, Kira knew Ethan was looking forward to the what the fall would bring. And then there was Trent. He'd been accepted to several art schools, and some of them weren't local. Despite his efforts, Kira had avoided discussing it with him. She didn't want to know. She knew none of the best schools were near Reefside, and she didn't blame Trent for wanting to go to the best he could. She wanted him to go to the best place he could. But that left her, and if she admitted, it, Adam had just voiced how she felt but had refused to admit. She was alone. Surrounded by friends and family, but alone. "It sucked. It hurt. And it was miserable." Adam added in.

"Aisha came back from Africa two weeks later," Adam continued on, watching Kira. Her eyes were cast in the direction of her teenage teammates, but he wasn't completely sure she saw them as she watched. He did however, know that she heard him. She was really listening, with more than her ears. "She told me not to stop wearing black and green, and that was the first time I ever heard 'Once a Ranger'," he told Kira.

The yellow clad teenager turned back to look at him and frowned. "And that fixed everything? Just start wearing your colors again and believe really hard that being a ranger never really ends, even when the power is gone?"

"Hell no," Adam laughed sarcastically and shook his head. "Made it worse actually, because she ended up finally getting together with Rocky that same night. Of course they could be happy with how their lives were going. They were together," Adam pointed out. "Rocky had been the one individual I could count on to wallow in self-pity with me. Yeah, he kicked my ass literally and figuratively when I was being an exceptional jackass, but he'd still been there. And now he was always with Aisha, and she was always spouting positive, happy go lucky, bullshit," he laughed, and Kira smirked. She could definitely see that, and she felt bad that he'd had to go through it. "At least when she and Rocky didn't have their tongues down each other's throats."

Kira made a disgusted face and then laughed, shaking her head. "So when did you start subscribing to the 'Once a Ranger' philosophy then?" she asked him. One had still held her head, but the other hand hung limply, dangling by her side as she twisted her fingers. Adam sighed and shook his head, giving her a slightly reluctant smile.

"For some people, it's pretty quick. They come to terms with being a former ranger pretty quickly. They're happy with the work they've done and are content and even pleased to get the opportunity to enjoy their life beyond the morphing grid. To be rewarded with peace after all the hard work they did," he explained.

"And then there's people like us?" Kira asked him, understanding finally where Adam had been going with his story. His smile was tinged with a bit of sadness.

"Yeah," he stated. "Then there are people like us. People who are always hoping they'll get to feel the rush of power in their veins. People who want nothing more than to serve and protect. People who desperately miss morphing and saving the world; who will jump at any chance to be a ranger again, instead of a former one."

"So four months ago?"

"Some of the best days of my life," Adam laughed, and Kira grinned in response. Finally! Someone who understood what she was going through and wasn't telling her to get over it. In fact, Adam was admitting he never really did get over it. "I ever tell you about the time I nearly killed myself morphing with a busted morpher?"

"Is that what Zack meant about setting his ass on fire?" Kira asked him, perking up slightly. Adam laughed and nodded.

"I didn't know it would try to siphon power from his to compensate for the fact that mine was nearly destroyed and powerless. But yeah, I was trying to help my own successor Carlos with some confidence issues. It was scary, I'll admit it, but I won't lie and tell you I wouldn't do it again if I needed to," Adam continued. "For some, 'Once a ranger, always a ranger', is just a saying, something to carry in their hearts and know that they're part of a family. But for others, it's a million percent a literal thing. We'll put the mantle back on if we need to, and we'll do it willingly, and happily. But believing in 'Once a Ranger'," Adam continued, "will make the periods of time where you aren't able to morph, a bit easier to bear."

"I guess that makes sense," Kira stated, taking in his words and nodding. "You really think I'll morph again?" she had cast her reluctant gaze to the wood grain of the deck between them, and peeked up at him from beneath her lashes, almost afraid of his answer.

"If you want it badly enough, yeah. The morphing grid understands each of us. One day we'll have to say goodbye to the power completely, but you'll know, in your heart when that is, and I think, for those of us who haven't let go yet, 'Once a Ranger' will finally feel like enough. That's how you'll know you're really done," he explained. Kira took a shaky inhale and exhaled slowly, letting Adam's explanation sink in. She nodded slowly, still looking at the wood grain. "And in the meantime, just know you're not alone. There are others who feel the same way you do."

"You?"

"Me," Adam confirmed with a nod. "And Tommy," he told her, and Kira frowned at him. Tommy had been one of those who'd repeated the seemingly endless mantra to her over and over, maybe even more than he had to the three teenage boys on the team. Adam laughed. "He didn't want you to be one of us," Adam told Kira. "It's harder for us. I'm pretty sure Tommy didn't want you to have to deal with that. I told him though, there'd be at least one of you joining our ranks. Rangers who can't let go," he added with another sarcastic laugh. "There was bound to be any time Tommy's on the team," he added and Kira grinned a little bit darkly.

"Any others?" she asked.

"I think Jason holds onto it a little tighter than some of the others, but otherwise, yeah, there are, but you don't know most of them," Adam told her.

"You'll introduce me then right?" Kira asked him, cocking her head to the side, and grinning.

"While I'm pretty sure you're definite joining our little club," Adam laughed, "I'm still holding out a little hope that you'll find peace sooner rather than later. Introducing you to Wes and then others, well, that's just asking you to be one of us that much longer," he stated, hugging her around the shoulder. "I meant what I said about you being like a little sister. I don't want to see you hurting," he added in.

Kira sighed and nodded. She wrapped one arm around his side to hug him back. "I know," she replied. "Thanks," she added with a smile. Adam nodded once and released her.

"Go join your friends. You won't stop feeling lonely if you don't let yourself," he told her. "I'm gonna go make sure Rocky and Zack don't eat all of the dinner," he added in, pushing himself to his feet and walking off. Kira watched him go, feeling a lot better than she had in months. She wasn't alone. There was an entire group of former rangers who felt the same longing for the power that she did. And it did help to know that she had people watching out for her.

* * *

The house was quiet, which wasn't surprising, considering it was nearing two o'clock in the morning. Adam, Rocky, Zack, Jason, and Katherine had gone back to the hotel, taking the three ranger offspring and the three regressed ranger women with them. Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent had all gone back to their respective homes, which left on Kim and Tommy in the house.

Kim had pushed the fact that Tommy had discovered her secret from her mind for the rest of the evening. Jason was right, there were still people who didn't know, and she didn't want it out completely yet. And all those that did know didn't bring it up, though Zack had hugged her goodnight a little tighter than he had over the last few days, and Rocky had let his hand linger on her shoulder a bit longer than necessary. Even when they couldn't use words, Kim loved the fact that her family did know how to communicate their feelings.

But now that things were quiet, she was having a harder time not allowing herself to focus on the issue, and that was what was keeping her awake. Tommy knew. Tommy had freaked out and even fainted over the fact that he was going to be a father. Granted, Tommy was only mentally fifteen, so had definitely contributed to his response. Still, it hadn't been the way she wanted him to find out. Kim sighed, and flipped the page in the book she was reading, and took a sip of water from the glass on her bedside table. She'd read just one more chapter and then she'd try and go to sleep again. At least Tommy had fallen asleep easily. One less thing for her to worry about.

Kim let her mind wander off, delving inside her book, when she heard something that sounded like white noise, and for a split second noticed black glowing light under her bedroom door. She frowned and blinked, wondering if the late hour was making her imagine things, as she slowly set the book down and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Suddenly however, she heard, a garbled yell that sounded something like her regressed boyfriend, followed by a voice she hadn't heard in a while screaming "What the fuck!"

The former pink ranger launched herself from the bed and threw open her bedroom door, racing to the guest room. She didn't bother knocking, but threw that door open as well, racing inside and grabbing the tall man dressed in a blue jeans and a navy polo, around the waist tightly in a hug, burying her face in his chest.

Stunned, the man dropped the two duffle bags he had with him to the ground, and wrapped his arms around the woman's shaking body, however, his blue eyes never left the form of the teenage boy sitting on the guest room bed watching him. Billy, having teleported directly from Aquitar into Tommy and Kim's guest room, desperately tried to piece together what was happening. For a moment he'd contemplated that something had gone majorly wrong with the teleportation and had sent him back in time instead of just back to Earth. However, he'd thrown out that theory the moment he'd realized a fifteen year old Tommy did not belong in a house in Reefside, and the full grown Kimberly attached at his waist confirmed that.

"You're here!" Kimberly finally managed to squeak out, turning her face so she was looking up at Billy. He glanced down at her, frowning when he saw the tears of relief in her eyes. "You said you weren't coming until Friday."

"Technically it is Friday," Billy stated, before looking back at Tommy. "I think," he added, clearly, unsure of what was going on. "What happened?" he asked, realizing that Kim definitely knew that there was something wrong with Tommy.

"Billy?" Tommy finally managed to squeak out. Billy frowned toward him, noticing the question in his friends gaze. Not only was Tommy much younger than he was supposed to be, but he clearly didn't recognize his adult friend completely. His memory was regressed along with his body. Great!

"What happened?" Billy repeated, as calmly as he could muster.

"Connor hit some stupid chair thing that I apparently asked Haley to make and it caused me to turn into a fifteen year old and there are about a dozen people here that I don't recognize and I can't morph and they're telling me that Rita is gone but I'm not a hundred percent sure that's true and I just really want things to make sense again and to make matters worse," Tommy blurted everything out without taking a breath to inhale. "Kimberly is pregnant."

Billy blinked and looked down at the woman still wrapped around his waist. "You're pregnant?" he asked her. Kimberly nodded. "And he thinks he's fifteen?" She nodded again. "Connor did it by hitting a device Haley was making?" Again, she nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"Aisha, Tanya, Trini, and Ethan were regressed as well," Kimberly stated.

"Of course," Billy sighed and dislodged himself from Kim, shaking his head.

"Where are you going?" she asked as he headed out of the guest room.

"To the lab. Someone has to fix this mess," he added in, not even looking back at the chaos that was Tommy.

* * *

Like I said, hope you enjoyed. And for those who have asked, the cast is now complete. Haley will be back from Boston soon, but other than that, no more additions to the cast.

As always, reviews are loved and cherished.

Fateless Wanderer


	24. Chapter 24

I promised you all several updates over the course of the summer. I mean to keep that promise. I've had these two scenes planned for a while. Took a lot of tweaking to get them perfect. Moving towards the end of the first bit of chaos but there's more to come. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Oh, and I do believe this is one of the longest chapters to date.

* * *

Kim sat at the tiny kitchen table at just before nine the next morning, her hands wrapped around a freshly brewed cup of tea, her elbows propped on the table. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was still clad in her pink leggings and black t-shirt that she'd gone to bed in. Still, despite the early hour, the former pink ranger had a slight smile on her face, her eyes locked on the seat where she'd come home to find Tommy passed out the evening before. She was still surrounded by chaos, and she was still pregnant by a man who wasn't technically present to find out that he was going to be a father. But, Billy was here. At least she was pretty sure she hadn't dreamed it, or imagined his two duffel bags on the floor of the guest room when she'd poked her head in to find Tommy still passed out in bed.

For the first time all week, she'd slept pretty well. She hadn't woken up tired, and even her morning sickness was at a minimum. She was pretty sure it was the effect of being relieved that the former blue ranger was finally there, and being a bit more assured in the fact that he could fix things. The fact that he'd gone straight to work the moment he found out the problem only helped increase her confidence that now that Billy was here, everything would actually be alright. She almost wondered if she should have listened to Jason a bit more on the optimism thing.

Lost in thought, footsteps behind her made her jump slightly, but she instantly settled back down and let a smile grace her face as her gaze landed on the blue clad individual, who yawned and rubbed his eyes as he entered the kitchen.

"Billy," Kimberly greeted him with a smile. "You must be exhausted," she added watching his yawn. "Did you even sleep a little bit?" Concern was evident on his face. The former blue ranger shook his head in the negative.

"Like I said, someone has to fix this mess," he laughed slightly and then paused. "I smelt coffee," Billy added, explaining his emergence from the dino thunder lab in the basement, and Kim pointed at the coffee pot she'd started and the mug she'd left behind it on the counter. Billy gave her an appreciative smile and nod before pouring himself a cup and then falling into the seat she'd been contemplating. He peered into her own mug, examining the amber-ish colored liquid and tea bag inside. "Well, that definitely answers that question," Billy laughed and shook his head. "You really are pregnant, huh?"

"Yeah," Kim replied with a slightly sad smile. She reached into her purse that still lay on the table and pulled the ultrasound image out, passing it over to the former blue ranger.

He took several moments to study the image, probably being one of the few in their group who wasn't a father but could actually decipher what he was seeing. "How are you so calm about this whole situation?" Billy asked her, cocking his head to the side. Kim snorted a small laugh. He handed her back the ultrasound and she replaced it inside her purse.

"Calm?" she repeated that part of his question, and sighed, shaking her head. She did suppose, compared to every other moment of the last week, she was pretty relaxed. She snickered. "Billy, I'm an emotional wreck ninety percent of the time. None of this was expected," she added, gesturing with her hands to emphasize the entirety of the situation. "This is not calm. This is confidence in the fact that you're here and can help fix this."

"Thought I'd dreamt you saying you were pregnant," Billy stated with a shake of his head, ignoring her last statement at the moment. "Granted I'd thought I'd dreamt you saying a lot of things last night, but they're all true."

"Trust me, it's been a nightmare for the last week," Kimberly laughed, nodding. She hadn't spoken much the night before, but everything that had been communicated was true. "What part did you have the hardest time grasping?"

"Well, I was pretty certain I was hearing things when you said Trini had been regressed. Figured the stress, and the late hour, either you slipped up, or you hadn't actually said that," Billy confirmed. He had both hands wrapped around the mug of coffee after taking a long sip. "But then I found the notes in her handwriting," Billy stated. "And the video surveillance of the lab," he added in. Kim nodded. "Not that I'm not thrilled they're here, but how?" Billy asked her.

"They weren't planning to be here," Kim explained, knowing Billy must have thought that was a surprise part of their reunion. "When Tommy regressed himself, I was on my flight home, and well, you were out of contact…"

"He doesn't know anyone besides the five of us, so the kids contacted Jason?" Billy asked her.

"They contacted Rocky who got them in touch with Jason," Kimberly corrected him, taking another drink of her tea.

"So Tommy, the real version of Tommy," Billy clarified frowning, indicating the twenty eight year that had thus far missed the first week of their reunion. Billy was staring into his coffee, concern evident on his features, "has no idea that Jason is here?"

"No," Tommy's voice interrupted. Now that it wasn't the middle of the night and he wasn't entirely freaking out by the fact that an older version of his friend had just teleported into the room he occupied from another planet, Tommy was slightly more relaxed. Billy looked up at him, and Kim twisted in her seat to watch the teenager over her shoulder. "And from what I've been told, when I do find out, the results will be interesting," he added in, a frown on his face.

"I suppose that'd be the best way to describe it, yeah," Billy stated with a blank look. He was still studying the teenager, taking in the contours of his face, the length of his hair, the look in his eyes. "Wow, this is bizarre," he finally stated, turning his attention back to Kimberly as Tommy blushed slightly and looked down. "He's gone all the way back to the beginning?"

Kim smirked and took another long sip off her tea. "Tell me about it," she stated with a slight roll of her eyes. She cast her gaze back at Tommy and sighed. "Stop playing shy and come in. It's Billy. You know Billy."

"Not this version," Tommy argued, but still he did as she bid him. Tommy had been appraising his blue clad friend in the same way that Billy had been watching him. Looking for the familiarity. Kim was right though, he did know Billy, and there wasn't even a slight doubt in his mind that this man was him. "And not the very beginning," he told Billy. "Doubt you'd like me much if I that was the case," he admitted, a slight smirk on his features as he took a seat. Kimberly snorted a laugh of agreement. Tommy as the evil green ranger would definitely not be an enjoyable experience, although the current situation wasn't much better.

Billy laughed and nodded. "How are you holding up?" Billy asked the teenager.

"Kind of just keeps getting worse and worse," Tommy explained, thinking back to the news he'd gotten the day before. He did his best not to blush bright red when his eyes fell on Kimberly. He needed things to be back to normal. He needed to not be fifteen anymore, now more than he had the previous Friday. "Do you think you can fix it?"

"I…" Billy began, but was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Billy and Tommy's faces wore a questioning look, while Kim sighed and shook her head.

"It's unlocked," she called loudly so whomever was on the other side of the door would admit themselves. She really had no desire to get up. Her tea was hot, her seat was comfy, and Billy was here fixing things. If she moved, any one of those things could change. She wasn't going to chance that. Maybe Billy hadn't dreamt anything the night before, but she was slightly concerned that his arrival was a dream and that she would wake up from it at any point.

"Kim?" Connor's voice reached the kitchen following the sound of the door opening. However, judging by the amount of footsteps behind her, Kim guessed that the teenager former red ranger was not alone.

"Kitchen," the pink clad woman called back. "Isn't it a bit early for you to be out of bed," she asked, taking another sip of her tea, and rolling her eyes. She knew why the teenagers were here, for even without looking, she knew it was the rest of dino thunder that was accompanying their former leader. Although her question had been in response to Connor, she was pretty sure the current hour was early for all four of the color coded teenagers.

"Well, we knew Billy was coming on Friday but we didn't know when," Kira called back. The teenage girl had apparently took the lead and had lead the boys into the living room where she placed her purse on the sofa before continuing into the kitchen area. "Any idea when he gets," she cut off her statement as her eyes focused on the individuals in the room. "Billy!" she shouted, laughing, and dashing around the kitchen table to give the former blue ranger a hug, Connor and Trent directly behind her. Ethan hung back slightly. "We thought you wouldn't be here until today. When did you get here?"

"Hey Kira," he stated, standing up and hugging her one handed. His other hand refused to let go of the coffee that was slowly making him feel more human, although the fact that at this point he hadn't slept in over twenty four hours was lessening the effects of the magical fluid. "About two in the morning," he replied to her question, and she glared up at him from the hug, playfully. "What? That's technically Friday," he laughed. "How you guys holding up?" he asked, as Kira released him and the former red and white rangers took their turns giving the planet traveling former ranger a hug in greeting.

"With the loss of power or with the whole regression of former rangers issue?" Trent asked as he and Billy released. The three non-regressed teenagers each wore smiles on their faces. The same confidence that Kim felt was definitely shared amongst the group. Billy was here. He could fix things. Tommy and Ethan and the three girls would be back to normal, soon.

Billy laughed in response and shook his head. "Both I guess," he told the teenager.

"Once a Ranger," Kira stated, with a slight roll of her eyes, her conversation with Adam from the night before still fresh in her mind. Billy cast a scrutinizing look at the teenager girl, who shrugged and cast her gaze to the floor. Billy sighed. He knew the look she wore. Jason had had it for a bit. Adam still wore it from time to time, and he was beginning to see it on Tommy's face now that they'd reconnected. He shook his head and looked at each of the dino thunder teenagers in turn, his eyes falling on Ethan last.

"I thought you said Ethan regressed," Billy stated, looking at Kimberly with a questioning expression.

Connor smirked and placed his hands on the blue clad teenager's shoulders, steering the teen over to the first of his own color lineage. "He did," Connor answered for Kim. "By about seven or eight months," he added in with a laugh. Ethan wore a hesitant expression as he appraised Billy who was frowning, looking between Tommy who'd been regressed over ten years and Ethan who wasn't quite a year younger than he should have been.

"Comparatively, it's not that bad. But it has its problems," Trent continued.

"Oh?" Billy asked, raising his eyebrow. "Ethan you alright?" he asked the teenager. Tommy had seemed perfectly healthy, but Billy wasn't sure about the other teenager. The dark skinned youth looked nervous about being addressed. He knew who Billy was, from the video history he'd seen. This man was the start of the blue ranger legacy. And Ethan was face to face with him. Nerves didn't begin to explain how he felt.

"One of those problems, Billy," Connor laughed, "is he has no recollection of meeting you," he added.

Billy frowned. "But, we met when…" he stated, his mind clearly not moving as quickly as it normally would have been. He had just traveled light years to get home, come face to face with a teammate who was physically and mentally regressed, and spent the entire night locked in a basement laboratory attempting to fully understand the problem and find a solution.

"Billy, we met the kids when we were seventeen," Kimberly interjected with a laugh. "But for them, it was only four months ago. Ethan's gone back past that. We're lucky he remembers being a ranger," she added in.

"Huh," Billy stated, surprise in voice, as what Kimberly explained clicked with him, before he rubbed his eyes and fell back into his chair at the table, taking a long drag off the coffee mug, draining it. "I'm going to need another mug," he stated, and Kira passed his the pot with a smirk on her face.

"You said you watched the video surveillance from the lab," Kimberly asked him. "Wouldn't you have seen the results of the regression?"

"When the chair exploded," Billy replied, shaking his head as he poured a second cup of coffee and passed the pot back to the teenage girl leaning against the counter, "it cut out the video systems. They're down. Not running. I couldn't see anything that happened as a result, nor anything that's happened since. Time stamp said it happened Monday?"

Connor, Kira, and Trent nodded in response to Billy's question. Kim just sighed. Monday wasn't exactly her favorite day. "Just the ones in the lab?" Connor asked, a feeling of concern evident on his features and in his voice.

"No," Billy confirmed with a headshake. "The entire system is down. It's not monitoring Reefside." Connor, Trent, and Kira exchanged apprehensive looks that Billy and Kim immediately picked up on. They may have been powerless, but they hated the idea of leaving Reefside defenseless. Despite lack of evil creature bent on some type of world domination, the dino thunder rangers had still been monitoring the peace. The fact that that wasn't an option didn't sit well with them. "One problem at a time," Billy told the three of them, who cast their eyes to their feet but nodded, understanding what the older ranger was talking about. "So how far back did Trini, Aisha, and Tanya go? I gathered from Haley's schematics and Trini's notes that the device ran on memories?"

"They were talking about me," Tommy spoke up. "Apparently I've been evil more than once," he added, folding his arms on the table and laying his chin in them. He looked a bit dejected, and definitely tired. Despite what Kim thought, Tommy hadn't slept at all the night before. His mind was preoccupied with the fact that Kimberly was pregnant with his child, and then he'd been anxious about whether or not Billy would be able to fix things. The former blue ranger winced slightly at Tommy's words, and looked at Kim who nodded.

"Evil rangers," she confirmed, sipping her tea. "Trini's about fifteen, about a week or so behind Tommy in memory," she explained. Billy winced again. That could not have been fun for either of his two oldest former teammates. One would be dealing with fear, and guilt when she realized there was nothing to fear. The other would be dealing with the guilt of what he'd done.

"Tommy was thinking about time right after the sword of darkness was destroyed," Billy stated with a nod. Of course he never would have thought about being one of Rita's evil henchmen. He lived with enough guilt from that. He'd never want to relive it. That was evident, just by the teenager's demeanor. Tommy nodded and sighed.

"Aisha was thinking about the time the wizard of deception sent us back in time," Kimberly continued.

"She's sixteen then," Billy nodded. "And technically that wasn't you," he addressed Tommy. "You were cloned," he added to the teenager. Tommy sighed, not surprised that of course something else had been done to him. He rolled his eyes and shifted his head to bang it lightly against the table, causing Billy and Kimberly to laugh slightly. "And Tanya?" Billy asked Kim, ignoring the green clad teenager.

"Eighteen. Something about the machine empire kidnapping him and brainwashing him?" she stated, not entirely sure.

"Yeah," Billy stated. "I remember that one," he added. "What about Ethan? Tommy's never told us he was evil during dino thunder, save that one time four months ago. How'd Ethan go back so far?"

"He was thinking about me," Trent stated, folding his arms over his chest. "Trust me, I know how the kid feels," he added, nodding his head towards Tommy. It wasn't pleasant knowing that your allegiance was with good but being around people who feared you, even just slightly, because you had been used for evil. Billy nodded.

"Anything else I should know about the current situation?" Billy asked.

"Well," Kim stated. "You know Trini's here," her words had the inflection of a question, despite knowing the answer.

"And Zack and Jason and Tyler," Billy confirmed.

"Kat got here Wednesday," Kimberly told him, and Billy frowned. "Tanya figured out how to use her cell phone and called her," she laughed. Billy sighed and nodded. Of course.

"So everyone," he stated. "Oh boy, interesting may not even begin to describe what happens next," Billy continued. He looked at Tommy, contemplating what the individual's reaction to the four unexpected adult reunion guests, and what theirs would be once they got him back to normal.

"So what is next?" Connor asked Billy. He was leaning against the counter beside Kira, his arms crossed over his chest and his ankles crossed as he listened to the conversation that had caught the ranger genius, scientist up to speed.

"Well, I worked all night," he stated, and Kim gave him a smile of gratitude, "and I may have something."

"You do?" Tommy and Connor both stated at the same time, the younger teenager's head shooting up off the table. He was no longer sitting, but standing, his fingertips braced against the flat surface. Kim was watching Billy, hope in her eyes, but apprehension on the rest of her features.

"I said may," Billy stated. "I found the memory logs in the computer and I've backed them up to about fifty different locations, just in case," he added in. Ethan was the only one who nodded understanding. "But anyway, I used a few pieces of equipment Haley had in the lab to create a reverse conduit memory restoration unit," he explained. "It might be enough to restore things the way they're supposed to be," he finished.

"All I got was restoration," Kira said plaining while the others, save Ethan frowned or blinked as they tried to digest what Billy had just told them.

"Essentially that's all you need to understand," Billy laughed at her, taking another sip from his coffee.

"So if you have something that might work, why are we sitting here?" Connor asked, eagerness in his expression. Tommy nodded his agreement enthusiastically. "We can get everyone back to normal."

Billy sighed and shook his head. He ran one hand over his face. "It might not work," he stated and paused, and then looked at Kimberly. "And it could be really dangerous," he added. "I don't know that it wouldn't do more damage than good." He was worried about toying even more with the regressed rangers mind. He didn't even want to fathom the consequences if the experiment failed to work the way he thought it would.

"And there's only one way to know?" Kimberly asked, and Billy nodded. "You need to test it to find out." Everyone was silent for a moment as they took in the information that yes, Billy thought he might have a solution, but it, like a lot of what they dealt with, was risky.

"I'll do it," Tommy stated suddenly.

"No way," Connor stated, shaking his head. "We'll figure something else out. You are not risking yourself."

"Yes I am," Tommy ignored Connor's instruction. "Leader or not Connor, you told me I'm your mentor. I'm partially responsible for you and the others. That means helping get Ethan back to normal. And I am everyone else's leader," he stated, looking at Kim and Billy knowing that they would have the same protest as Connor did. His looked dared them to say something against him. "Maybe not yet," he added, gesturing to himself, "but that video you showed me says I will be. If anyone is going to risk it, it's going to be me."

"Are you sure?" Billy asked the teenage version of his friend. The boy had been familiar before. But hearing him speak with confidence and as a leader, Billy had no doubts what so ever that the boy was Tommy. Kim just sighed. She knew she wouldn't be able to convince him otherwise. Tommy didn't reply with words. However, he set his mouth in a determined line and nodded once to the former blue ranger. "Alright," he added. "Let's go downstairs," he added, standing up. He wasn't happy with the plan, and he knew Kim wasn't either, but they'd known him the longest and been two of his teammates the longest – only Adam had them beat. They knew, no matter how old he was, if Tommy was determined to do something, trying to talk him out of it was only a waste of time. And in a way, he was right. If anyone should risk testing Billy's solution, it was Tommy.

"Ethan," Connor stated, not entirely pleased that Billy was allowing Tommy to try his reverse conduit thingy. "Stay up here," he instructed Ethan who sighed, nodded, and fell into one of the now empty chairs at the table. "Just in case. Kira? Trent?"

"We're coming Connor," Trent told the former red ranger. Kim, Tommy, and Billy had already left the kitchen. Connor exhaled sharply but nodded. Kira's look said she'd hurt him if he tried to stop her. The three non-regressed members of dino thunder left the kitchen and headed down into the lab. Tommy was sitting in his desk chair which had been wheeled to the center of the room.

Kim sat on the edge of Tommy's desk. Her facial expression was blank, but she was pale and fear was evident in her eyes. Kira went over and sat beside her, wrapping one arm around the older woman's shoulder. She gave her a slight smile, trying to reassure her. Billy wouldn't have let Tommy do something he didn't think was going to be somewhat ok. Or at least she didn't think he would. Granted, Adam had sacrificed himself back in March, and Kira was pretty sure that was a stupid decision. Still, Billy had allowed it. So maybe the former blue ranger wasn't entirely the best judge of what his friends should and shouldn't risk. She turned her face away from Kim so the pink clad woman wouldn't see the worry she had, and bit down on her lip, locking her eyes on Tommy.

"Need anything, Billy?" Trent asked the blue clad man. Billy had apparently salvaged the helmet portion from the wreckage that was the original device. He had several wires running from it back to the main computer. He held the helmet in his hands and was walking towards Tommy.

Billy shook his head, and both teenagers nodded, stepping away Tommy and leaning against the wall. Connor took the same position he'd had in the kitchen. Trent propped one foot up and bent back, his sole touching the wall, both of his hands behind his back, palms pressed against the wall, as Billy began attaching the helmet to Tommy's head.

"You are sure about this?" Billy asked the boy. The fifteen year old nodded. Billy sighed. In his eyes, Tommy was only a kid, but his determination and lack of evident fear made the former blue ranger realize how quickly they'd all grown up as a result of being rangers. Next to saving the world, piloting giant zords, and kicking alien ass on a daily basis, this was nothing.

"Do it Billy," Tommy told him, and Billy heard the sound of his former leader in the young teenager's voice. He nodded and stepped away from the teenager, going back to the computer. He typed something, then twisted and looked back over his shoulder first at Connor and Trent on one side of the lab, and then at Kira and Kim on the other. The two young men weren't hiding their worry as well as Tommy was. Billy could see their nerves. Kim was white. Kira still had one arm wrapped around the older woman's shoulder, and had one of Kim's hands gripped in her own. Billy shifted his gaze from them to Tommy. Tommy nodded once and Billy reciprocated the motion, hitting enter on the keyboard of the computer.

The result was instantaneous. The computer emitted a mechanical whirling noise and a bright greenish blue light surged down the wires from the computer, reaching the helmet and engulfing the entire top portion of the teenager beneath for a few moments, obscuring him from sight. Kim let out a moan of worry and tried to lunge forward, but Kira held her firmly to the desk they were seated on. The bright light began to fade, replaced with tiny bolts of lightning in the same color dancing across the helmet and racing back and forth down the wires. Tommy's skin was pale and his eyes were wide but it was evident by their emptiness that he didn't see anything. Almost as suddenly as the light had appeared, the lightning bolts faded. As the last of them did, Tommy slumped forward in the chair, his chin against his chest as his eyes rolled back into his head.

"Tommy!" Kimberly shouted, tossing Kira off and racing towards his side. Billy, Connor, Trent, and Kira reached him just behind her. Kim knelt beside him, grabbing one of his hands in her own, while Billy immediately began to remove the helmet from his head. "His hands are ice!" she stated, not really directing her statement at anyone.

"He has a pulse," Connor replied, his fingers against the teenager's neck. "Help me get him to the couch?" he asked Trent who nodded. Kira pulled Kim away, as Connor grabbed the teenager beneath his arms and Trent grabbed his legs. Together, the two teenagers moved the unconscious fifteen year old to the sofa. "Billy?" Connor asked, looking at the individual who was studying the read out on the computer.

"I don't know what happened," Billy stated. "It should have worked." His eyes were darting across the screen as he analyzed the data. The read out told him things none of the others in the lab could understand.

Kim had shaken Kira's hold again and was crouched beside him, running her palm over his forehead, sweeping his hair out of his eyes. Kira watched her, concern evident in her face.

"He seems ok," Trent stated, watching the boy's breathing patterns. They were steady and normal. Almost as if he was just sleeping. He grabbed a bio scanner off a nearby shelf and scanned his vitals, frowning at the device. "Nothing seems to be wrong; he's just kinda knocked out?" he stated, looking up from the screen and at Billy, who nodded.

"Maybe an overload on his mind," the blue clad man stated. He hadn't taken his eyes off the screen. "Why didn't it work," Billy asked the computer screen, his eyes rolling over the data on the monitor. The numbers and words looked like gibberish to everyone else, but he seemed to understand what it was telling him. "It should have worked," he stated again, his eyes never leaving the computer.

"What's the computer say Billy?" Connor asked, drawing up on the blue clad ranger in the lab. Trent and Kira were right behind him, and even Kim had reluctantly pulled away from Tommy's side, although she cast a look at him over her shoulder. Trent was right. He did seem as though he was ok, just sleeping.

"It says it worked," Billy stated, frowning, as his eyes scanned the data. "But clearly it didn't," he added, looking over his own shoulder for a moment at the teenager. "He's breathing?"

"Normally," Trent stated. "No physical damage," the teenage former white ranger added in. Billy sighed and nodded and began scanning the data again.

"What do you think went wrong, Billy?" Kim asked her friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. She trusted Trent and Connor's assessment of the teenager and Billy didn't seem worried about his physical wellbeing. She tried her best to relax.

"I don't even," the blue ranger began, shaking his head.

"Owww," Tommy moaned, getting everyone's attention, "my head," he groaned. Everyone shifted back towards the teenager, even Billy, as Tommy sat up on his own and clutched his head in his hands, eyes squeezed shut, trying to block out the light of the room that made his head hurt worse.

"Dude!" Connor spoke first, a relieved grin on his face. Kim allowed herself to smile slightly, mimicking the dino thunder leader's relief at the fact that Tommy was still clearly functional. "You're alright!"

Tommy groaned slightly, evidently still in some type of pain. He rubbed his temples with his fingertips, his head still cradled in his hands. "Connor," he spoke slowly. "Don't call me dude," he added in, exhaling slowly against the pain.

"Tommy?" Trent asked him, placing a hand on the teenagers shoulder. The boy turned and looked up at him, slowly opening his eyes and squinting against the light in the room. "You doing ok?"

Tommy nodded, drawing in a deep breath and allowing his hands to drop away from his face. "Since when do you call me 'Tommy'?" he asked the white clad teenager. Trent's expression immediately dropped into a frown, which Connor mimicked. Behind Tommy, Kim and Billy wore similar expressions. Kira walked up behind Trent and placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, confusion reflected in her own face. "Why are you looking at me like that? What the hell happened?"

Kira blinked a few times and stepped in front of Trent, studying Tommy's face. Something wasn't right. There was a look in his eyes that she hadn't seen in about a week. "Dr. O?" she asked, hesitantly, knowing the response she'd get, but still being apprehensive about it.

"No," the teenager replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He rolled his eyes. "It's the Easter Bunny," he added dryly. "Kira, Trent, what's going on?" he asked, as Kira's mouth fell open as she realized what had apparently happened. Wide eyed, she cast her look at Connor and Trent, and then at Kim and Billy, all whose expressions mimicked her own.

"Well," Billy snorted a laugh, because, as he and the others had told the teenagers four months before, you either learn to laugh at chaos, or you go insane, "this is unexpected," he added in. His voice had drawn Tommy's attention, and now the green clad teenager was staring at Billy as if he'd grown a second head. Tommy's mouth fell open, mimicking Kira's expression.

"You…" he paused, trying to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. "You're not supposed to be here until next Friday," he told the older man, who smirked in response.

"Handsome," Kimberly spoke, grasping Tommy's attention. The teenager's eyes went wider. "It is next Friday," she told him, sitting down beside her and wrapping her arms around him. Tommy stiffened. Something was off. Kim leaned into him and her head arched down. When she pulled away, Tommy looked at her, straight in the eyes. Not downward. That was definite not right. Kira suddenly snapped out of her stupor and ran to Tommy's desk and began rummaging around in the filing cabinet, evidently looking for something. He frowned watching her for a moment, before shifting his attention back to Kim and Billy. They were telling him he was missing an entire week?

"What?" Tommy began to question again, but his voice trailed off. Something was definitely weird. Trent had called him by his first time. They'd been concerned about him. He was practically the same height as Kim. He had a really bad sinking feeling he knew what was going on.

"You seriously don't remember anything that happened over the last week?" Connor asked him, raising an eyebrow. Tommy turned his attention back to the teenage leader of his most recent team, a blank look on his face. Tommy shook his head slowly. One week. The reunion would have started. What had he missed? "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Showing you the device Haley was working on," he stated, his eyes darting around for it and coming to rest on the charred remains in the corner of the lab. He remembered placing the dome over his head and seeing Connor's soccer ball hit it. He remembered the smell of smoke. Something had happened. His eyes widened again and his heart sunk. Something wasn't weird; something was majorly wrong. "Guys, what happened? What's going on?" there was a hint of panic in his voice, and more than a hint in his eyes. Billy smirked again and ran his hand along the back of his neck. This was not exactly the type of fix he'd been hoping for.

"Dr. O," Kira spoke, drawing something out of the filing cabinet and walking back towards him. "Don't freak out, ok?" she told him, and Tommy frowned. She sighed and withdrew a hand mirror from behind her back, handing it to him, upside down. Immediately Tommy's heart sank. He had a bad feeling he knew what had happen, as he took the mirror from her by the handle. He almost didn't want to look. His eyes glanced up and found Kim, a question clear in them.

Kim signed and nodded, a slight sad smile on her features. Tommy's heart reached his stomach. She confirmed what he guessed. He gulped, squeezed his eyes shut and flipped the mirror over, then slowly opened his eyes and peered down at his reflection.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he managed to say, his face paling as he examined his own features. This was not happening. He had not regressed into a fifteen year old, for a week.

* * *

Ethan sat in the living room on the sofa, his mind racing. They'd told him Billy was coming, and he knew from what they'd shared with him that he knew who Billy was, more so than just knowing of him. They'd told him they were friends, but Ethan was having trouble fathoming it. The fact that he personally knew the first blue ranger was almost more unbelievable than the fact that Trent was now a good guy. It was disconcerting and more than a little uncomfortable. And then Billy had told them that he had a possible fix to the problem, in only a few hours? Well, that had made it almost worse. Billy wasn't just legend. He was amazing. Ethan wondered if he'd ever be half as smart as the beginning of the blue ranger legacy.

When Connor had suggested that he wait upstairs, he hadn't argued. He was nervous and afraid to make a fool of himself in front of Billy. Plus, he didn't want to get his hopes up. He desperately wanted everything to make sense again, and if he watched, and it failed, well, he didn't think he could handle the disappointment that came with it. But in the back of his mind, he was hoping Billy had found the solution and that he could get his real, full memory back.

Ethan jumped when a knock sounded at the door. Unsure how to react for a moment, Ethan slowly realized that the knock was probably the others. They'd have shown up for the day, possibly anticipating Billy's arrival like his former teammates had been when they'd shown up at his house and dragged him out to the car, barely allowing him time to eat a pop tart on the way out. A second knock drew him out of his stupor, and he went to the door, opening it cautiously and peeking out.

"Hey Ethan," Zack told him cheerfully as the blue clad teenager relaxed slightly and opened the door wider to admit the former black ranger. The man was carrying Tyler on his shoulders. He ducked slightly as he entered the house past Ethan, careful not to bang the toddler's head against the ceiling. He wasn't alone. Behind him, Trini, Aisha, Tanya, and Kat followed, the last carrying a napping Luke in his carrier, all four engaged in chattering conversation, though they did acknowledge the teenager as they made their way into the house. "You ok? You seem a little pale?" Zack asked. Ethan peered out behind Kat, his eyes falling on Rocky, Adam, and Jason who were grabbing a few items from the cars. He held the door open long enough for them to enter, Katie, hanging off Rocky's hand, the thumb of her free hand tucked into her mouth, a sleepy look in her eyes.

"Yeah," Ethan replied above the chatter of the group. "I'm good, I think," he confirmed with a bit of a laugh. Everyone had shuffled into the living room as they had for the last week, finding places to sit and chat. Rocky had freed Katie the moment he'd entered as Zack lifted Tyler off his shoulders. Both toddlers migrated towards their mothers. Tyler wanting to play with the dinosaurs he had gripped in his hands, and Katie to curl up against her mother's chest, her eyes drifting closed.

"Try to get her to wake up?" Rocky instructed Aisha, who nodded. Rather than letting the small girl fall asleep, Aisha gripped the girl with one arm for support and used her other hand to tickle Katie's belly, causing the toddler to emit a high pitched giggle.

"Where's everyone, Ethan?" Jason asked, as he removed a black book bag he carried from his shoulder. Rocky copied his motion with the diaper bag he had strung over his chest. The house was quiet, which was surprising. Over the last week he'd gotten used to the sounds of Connor and Trent bickering, Kira threatening Connor, or Connor ribbing Tommy. If Ethan was present, it should have meant that the rest of the dino thunder team was present. And Kimberly would be somewhere trying not to kill the five of them.

"Downstairs in the lab," the teenage boy replied, not really thinking about what he was saying. "With Billy," he added, taking his seat back on the sofa.

"Billy's here?" Adam nearly shouted. The mention of the blue ranger had instantly gotten the attention of everyone in the room, including the regressed female rangers. Ethan wasn't exactly comfortable with how they were staring at him. He did not want to be the center of attention, even if it was just a group of former rangers.

"Um… yeah," Ethan stated, casting his gaze down to his feet. "He said he got here at like two am," he explained, still feeling all eyes on him. "He… um… he thinks he has a way to fix things and Tommy volunteered to test it," Ethan finished.

"Stay here," Jason immediately commanded, although it wasn't clear who he was talking him. The tone of his command however was definitely not to be ignored. Without thinking, Jason turned his back on the living room and headed for the door to the basement. He didn't look over his shoulder to see if he would be obeyed, but he heard two sets of footsteps behind him. Considering that there were seven other adults who'd accompanied him into the house, the fact that only two were following him was a pretty good response to his command. The fact that he could tell by the weight of their steps that they were definitely not the three regressed teenage girls was even more relieving, as he'd really only meant his command for the three of them.

Jason's mind was only on one thing as he bolted down the stairs to the lab, frantic, for the second time that week. He hadn't liked what he found at the base of the stairs the last time he'd dashed down, but he hoped this time things would be different, as his vision slowly focused on the people in the area.

"Ethan said Billy might be able to fix things? Did it work?" he asked, his eyes glossing over Connor, Kira, and Trent. He registered Billy for a split second, before his eyes finally came to rest on the fifteen year old sitting on the sofa, a hand mirror in his grasp.

"Jason," Kimberly breathed out, startled by the man's sudden arrival, as well as Adam and Rocky behind him. All three of them wore hopeful faces, and Kim didn't blame them. Despite her apprehension, she'd been hopeful that Billy's plan would have worked, as well. Granted, it sort of had, just not completely. Problem was, they hadn't really had the chance to fill Tommy in on everything.

"Guess not," Adam stated, drawing up behind Jason, the hope in his eyes going away. Rocky behind him, sighed and frowned, punching one hand into the other in frustration. Both men tore their gaze from Tommy and onto Billy, giving the blue clad man smiles of greeting, before they'd gone over to hug their friend. Four months was a long time to without seeing him, despite that it had been a lot longer the last time.

However, Jason's gaze hadn't left Tommy. He watched the teenager slowly lower the hand mirror onto the couch beside him, shifting his eyes from his own reflection and onto the three men at the base of the stairs. The teenager's gaze hadn't lingered on Adam or Rocky for more than a second or so, but it locked in place on Jason. Jason studied the look in the boy's eyes and slowly realized something was different. The teenage boy did not wear the look of recognition that he had for the last week, or even the embarrassment that Jason had seen when he'd first encountered the boy the Friday before. Instead there was clear confusion, stun, and Jason was honest a little bit of fear in the look the teenager wore, his mouth slightly ajar. "Jay…" he stuttered out. "Jason," he forced out with what appeared to be the last of the oxygen he had in his lungs.

Tommy's speech grabbed the attention of Adam and Rocky, who both looked at him confused. Jason took a few steps closer to Tommy, and suddenly, even the only two in the room who had no idea what was transpiring between the first red ranger and the regressed multicolored one, could feel the tension in the room.

"Jason," Connor stated, a bit of a warning in his voice. He could read the body language of the larger man. Jason knew what had happened, Connor was sure of it, and he wasn't happy. Jason's breathing was shallow, and his hands were clutched into fists at his sides. As Jason got closer, Tommy forced himself to stand up. He knew what could and possibly would happen, and there was no way he was going to stay sitting. Still, it didn't make him feel much better when he realized that he was a good several inches shorter than Jason. He knew what a slight size difference could result in. Tommy shifted his body position, taking a step back and holding both hands up in front of him as if he were trying to calm a wild animal.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Jason finally stated, looking the teenager up and down. "This is a joke right?" he asked, although no one was sure who he was talking about. "After all this time, this is what the morphing grid does?" He smirked, a dark, cold look in his eyes. "I can't beat the shit out of you like this," he added.

"As if you could," Tommy retorted without really thinking. He hadn't expected to come face to face with Jason. He wasn't ready for this encounter. He was not thinking straight. Jason immediately shifted toward Tommy and wildly swung his fist at the teenager. Apparently he could beat the shit out of Tommy, even physically regressed. "Jason! No!" Kira and Kimberly both shouted. Rocky and Connor both darted forward, the former still confused about what was actually happening, to grab him. Trent got in between Tommy and Jason, who was now locked in the holds of the other two former red rangers, each who were grasping him around the biceps. Trent pressed on hand against his mentor's chest, holding the other out towards Jason, just in case the first red ranger managed to shake his two successors. Tommy stepped back slightly, his face showing that he was actually a bit startled by what had just happened. Jason snarled and glared at Tommy around Trent. Adam and Billy each traded a look, the former black ranger slowly catching onto what was happening in front of him.

"Jase? You good?" Rocky asked him after a moment. Kim's eyes were wide, a few tears forming in them. A slight sniffle escaped her. Jason, hearing, shifted his gaze to the former pink ranger at the same moment as Tommy did. He sighed and relaxed his muscles, allowing Rocky and Connor to slowly release him as he nodded. "Good," Rocky stated. "Now what the hell just happened?" he asked, looking back and forth between Tommy and Jason.

"Tommy's memory is back, isn't it?" Adam asked, studying the teenager, who blushed suddenly and looked away, confirming Adam's theory. He'd realized he was standing there, fifteen years old, in front of his friends. And he knew who they were. And he was definitely not comfortable being younger than they were. He was younger than Connor, for crying out loud.

"Wait, what?" Rocky's eyes darted back and forth faster between Jason and Tommy now, the reason the former red ranger had tried to attack the teenager suddenly making a lot more sense. "It worked?" he asked, looking at Billy.

"Sort of," Billy confirmed. "I was able to get his memory back, but not his body," the former blue ranger stated, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "And he has no idea what's happened over the last week," he added in.

Adam hadn't even realized that was a possibility and his eyes shot open. Tommy had no clue Jason was here, nor that Kat, Zack, and Trini were there either. How much had Kim and Billy been able to fill Tommy in on before they'd come down to the basement?

"Jason?" Billy asked his former leader.

"I'm good Billy, I promise," he stated, his eyes once again locked on Tommy. "Just a bit frustrated." He had not expected this possibility. Jason, and even Tommy himself, had assumed that when the latter had gotten his memory back, he'd have remembered the entire last week. Jason knew from the response he'd gotten, that Tommy had, up until that moment, since getting his memory back, had no idea that Jason, Zack, Trini, and Katherine were back in his life. The talks he'd had with the teenager had been a way of rebuilding his relationship with Tommy. He'd be honest with him. He'd told him how badly it had hurt that Tommy had pulled away. Tommy had learned about his son. It had been a small road to recovery. But Tommy didn't remember any of the last week. It was as if a bomb had exploded, destroying the bridge that had slowly been being repaired. "You remember nothing?" he asked his former best friend.

Tommy defiantly drew his gaze away from the floor. As much as he wouldn't admit it, he actually felt Jason's attempted attack was justified. He deserved it, even if it was just for being an asshole and provoking him. In his defense, no one had warned him, and his mind was currently freaking out over what else could possibly have happened in the last week that he knew nothing of, which was exactly what Jason referenced. He glared a little at Jason, refusing to admit that they anger both of them felt at the moment was even remotely his fault. It had been easy with Rocky, Adam, and the others. Even without the trip to the past, Tommy knew he would have apologized. But with Jason, there was a pride thing. He'd never, in any way, lost to Jason.

Kim sniffled again and Jason sighed, as he and Tommy shifted their attention off each other and onto the pink ranger. "Kim," Jason stated, a bit of exasperation in his voice, "Please stop crying," he told her. "I promise I won't try and hit him again," he told her.

"Beautiful," Tommy added. "It's alright, I promise. It'll be alright," he added, although it wasn't completely clear if he was only talking to himself.

"This is incredibly fucked up," Trent finally stated, getting a bit irritated with the situation. Tommy opened his mouth to retort, but the white clad teenager shook his head. "No," he stated forcefully. "You," he stated, pointing at his physically regressed mentor, "and you," he added, pointing at Jason. "You two are going to talk," he added darkly. Tommy had seen the look on his face. The former white ranger had worn in both times he'd been evil, and Tommy knew from experience with it himself that the teenager's tone meant he was not to be defied. "Jason, you can fill Dr. O in on everything that's happened this week once you come to some type of understanding," he ordered.

"The rest of us," Connor added in, backing up his teammate. "Will take care of explaining the situation to everyone else," he added. "Upstairs."

"Good idea," Kira stated, drawing Kim into the circle of her arms and glaring at Tommy and Jason. She hated seeing the woman so upset, even if she did think it was a bit strange how she was acting. She couldn't remember Kim being so emotional; not even when she was a teenager. "Three against one. And Ethan would agree," she told Tommy. He sighed, and nodded. Jason stared at the three dino thunder teenagers for a moment, before he grumbled and turned his back on them, crossing his arms over his chest. "Come on Kim," Kira stated, addressing the pink clad woman. "You need to keep it together to tell the others what's happening. We've definitely got some decisions to make."

"I'm still confused," Rocky stated.

"That's not surprising, ape man," Adam replied, turning and leading the way out of the basement.

Trent and Connor let everyone else go ahead of them, before they looked at the former first red and first white rangers. Connor smirked and looked at Trent. "You know," he told the white dino thunder teen. "I didn't get it before. Now I do," he stated.

"The similarity?" Trent asked his former leader, a laugh in his expression. Connor nodded. "They're so much worse than us," he addressed Connor who nodded again. "So fix it," he added to Tommy and Jason, making sure that both 'adults' understood that his and Connor's conversation had been for their benefit not the teenagers. Trent slung his arm over Connor's shoulder and the two teenagers shared a laugh, before releasing one another and heading up the stairs after Billy, Kim, Kira, Adam, and Rocky.

Tommy and Jason were both silent for a while after Connor and Trent left them alone. Tommy stared at the stairs, still seeing their retreating figures in his mind. He was still trying to piece together what was happening. He'd been regressed, somehow, into a fifteen year old. He knew it had something to do with the completely demolished memory device Haley had been constructing, but how it had happened, and everything that had gone along with it was missing. On top of that, Jason Scott was in his basement, and he had absolutely no idea how to cope with that.

For his part, Jason didn't even turn back around. He glared at one spot on the far wall, trying to regain control over his own temper, listening to his breathing, as well as that of the adult in the teenager's body that stood behind him. Mentally, Tommy was an adult. Capable of remembering what had happened to their relationship nearly a decade before. But physically, his former best friend was trapped in the body of a teenager, which made beating him to a bloody pulp would be considered child abuse. He was pretty certain the morphing grid had done this on purpose. He would be forced to confront Tommy with words, not actions. He wasn't made to not act first and ask questions later.

"I deserve whatever it is you want to do to me," Tommy's voice suddenly interrupted Jason's mental tirade at the morphing grid. The former red ranger whirled around, anger on his face and reflected in his eyes, but he didn't say anything. Tommy wasn't behind him anymore. He'd migrated over to the desk and was examining something on it. He looked up at Jason and met the dark gaze with one of resignation. "You can hit me if it'll make you feel better," Tommy told him, startling Jason.

"Child abuse is frowned upon," Jason answered dryly.

"Good thing I'm not really a child," Tommy responded. He picked up the picture frame he'd been studying and turned, leaning back against the desk, and crossing his legs at the ankles. He glanced down at the photograph he held. Jason watched him. His mannerisms were no longer familiar. Each moment he watched Tommy he realized the teenager who'd been there for the last week really was gone. He'd been replaced by someone who was a stranger to him, despite the fact that he shouldn't have been. Sure, they'd seen each other briefly two years before, but neither had really taken the time to talk to each other. Their comradery had been an act for the newbies. That day was not the time or place for anyone to think Jason Scott and his former best friend Tommy Oliver had nothing to do with one another anymore.

Jason sighed and shook his head. He couldn't hit him. Most of him really wanted to, but he realized, it was just the hot headed part of him. The more rational part of him just wanted an explanation, and the current situation seemed to have presented itself specifically for that reason. The two had lapsed into silence for several minutes again before Jason finally looked up at Tommy. He was studying the framed photograph again. Jason watched him set down the image of the original six rangers, half morphed, and blinked for a moment. "Why'd you leave me?" he finally asked, sounding angry and sad at the exact same time.

"You left me first," Tommy retorted, his defenses instantly going up, and expression shifting from relax and resigned to an angry glare. He'd jumped off the desk and taken a defensive stance as well, his hands curled into fists. Jason's eyes widened in surprise at the response. However, as Tommy processed Jason's facial expression, he blinked a few times, and shifted out of the defensive stance, bringing one hand to his head.

"You sure you're not really a child?" Jason asked him, mocking in his voice. Tommy had both hands clasping his head which he shook in the negative.

"Not really, no," Tommy replied, sighing and looking up at Jason.

"Come again?" Jason had his head cocked to the side, confusion and a little bit of concern on his features. Did Tommy just tell him he thought he might actually be a teenager?

Tommy sighed again and shook his head, trying to clear it. "It's hard to explain, especially to someone who's never undergone regression before," he stated, running a hand over her face. "Mentally I'm fine," he continued. "I know who I am, how old I'm supposed to be. My education is intact; my memories, well, save the last few days apparently, are all there. I've experienced my entire life," he explained and Jason raised an eyebrow, indicating that Tommy should continue. He understood. "But my body isn't as old as my mind. And emotions tend to be controlled not only by mental maturity, but by the biological and chemical make up in my body."

"You're a hormonal teenager?" Jason asked him, and Tommy actually laughed slightly.

"Essentially," he stated with a nod. "My physical age, when stressed or upset, tends to take over if I'm not careful," Tommy added. "It's why I provoked you when you said you should beat the crap out of me."

"Well," Jason replied, an amused expression on his face. "That actually makes some sense." They both paused again, silence taking over. The situation wasn't easy for either of them. "You want to try answering the question as an adult this time?" Jason finally asked Tommy. Tommy had already sat back down on the edge of the desk, and Jason walked over, sitting beside him, crossing his arms over his chest. "You promised you wouldn't."

"I fucked up," Tommy replied simply. "Worst decision of my life. But you and the others would have gotten hurt."

"Bullshit," Jason retorted, letting some of his anger escape him. "I know the truth, Tommy," he added. It was the first time he'd said his former friend's name.

"Kim told you?"

"I figured it out on my own," he added. "I'm not stupid," he stated again.

"So why'd you even ask?" Tommy stated, working to control his emotions. If he let them slip again, he wasn't sure he could regain control. He already felt stupid enough being beside Jason, a mere boy compared to the first red ranger.

"To see if you'd give me a straight answer," Jason confessed, disappointment in his voice. Tommy frowned and turned so that he could glare at Jason. "So you going to admit or not?" he asked, clearly giving the other individual a chance to redeem himself. Tommy didn't stay anything. Instead he cast his gaze to his feet. "Didn't think so," Jason told him.

"Why are you here?" Tommy spoke up. Jason may have known that the main reason he pulled away was because he hadn't want to get hurt again, but the currently regressed ranger was not going to admit it. Clearly, Jason was pissed off at him. He had every right to be. Tommy was angry with himself to. Especially because he wanted to admit it. He wanted to be an adult and tell Jason what he needed to hear. Unfortunately that body chemistry he'd mentioned earlier wouldn't let him overcome his pride.

Jason glared back at the man in the teenager's body. "Seriously?" He asked. "Could you ask a more stupid question?" he growled.

"You clearly hate me," Tommy replied, anger in his own voice. Both individuals were losing control over the volume of their conversation. "So why'd you even bother coming?"

"Yeah, I hate you," Jason retorted. "You were a selfish asshole when you left me," the first red ranger stated. "You don't deserve to have anyone forgive you, but they have," he stated, watching Tommy's eyes burn with a deeper anger. "But I don't hate the teenager you've been for the last week. He needed help."

"I don't need your help," Tommy spat. He'd lost complete control. His voice dripped in venom. Jason's words had been true, but his pride couldn't handle them. Jason frowned, finally realizing what had been happening over the last few moments of their conversation. He'd heard those exact words before, in the exact same tone, from the exact same individual. Before Tommy could react, Jason stepped away from the desk and turned so that he was standing across from Tommy. He placed both of his hands firmly on Tommy's shoulders. Instantly Tommy fought him, attempting to swing a punch at Jason, who simply held him in place tightly.

"Breath," Jason commanded, not even surprised when Tommy's breathing began to slow. Adult in mind, but his body was responding just as Jason assumed it would when he heard a command from his former leader. "Tommy, you've got to control yourself if we're going to get through this," he added. Tommy inhaled and exhaled slowly, a slight blush adorning his cheeks. He looked down at his feet and nodded, counting his breaths. "You back?" he asked.

"It's never been this bad," Tommy admitted. "I've never," he paused, trying to find the right words to describe what he was experiencing. "Why can't I control this?" he asked, looking up at Jason, a bit of fear in his eyes.

"That's a question for Billy, not me," Jason added, clapping Tommy on the shoulder and releasing him, now that he was pretty certain his adult mind had control again. "Do you remember what just happened?" he asked.

"Sort of," Tommy admitted, sighing and shaking his head. "I got angry, and I reacted like a fifteen year old," he stated. "That's twice in the last ten minutes," he added, concern in his voice.

"Yeah," Jason replied, unsure what to even say. He could sense the trepidation in Tommy's tone, even if he was trying to hide it. "It seems to get worse, the more upset you get," Jason explained.

"I can see myself and hear myself reacting," Tommy stated as he nodded agreement, "but I can't stop myself from reacting immaturely," he stated. "Wonderful," he added with a sigh. "I'm more immature than Connor."

"Now, that is a feat," Jason laughed, having gotten to know the most recent red ranger over the last week. "Maybe you're not that immature," he added, with a smirk. "Maybe only Rocky level," Jason finished.

"Great," Tommy stated with a sigh. He paused for a few moments, trying to get his thoughts under control. He went back over the conversation, fighting the teenager inside him that wanted to rear every time he thought something that really bothered him, such as accepting blame for what had happened between him and Jason. It was a struggle. He could feel Jason's gaze on him as he studied his feet. Finally, he exhaled deeply and looked up at Jason. "I was terrified of getting hurt again. Kim's letter," Tommy stated, "well, it did something to me. I didn't want to risk hurting like that again," he explained, actually looking up at Jason and meeting his eyes. "I really fucked up man. I meant it when I said it was the worst decision of my life," he added.

Jason watched quietly for a second, looking for what Rocky had told him would be there. If he was honest, he hadn't believed the second red ranger that Tommy would have felt regret. And based on how their conversation was going, Jason had almost been sure he wouldn't have seen it. But it was there, etched on the teenage face of the former ranger leader and Jason couldn't deny it.

"You missed a lot," Jason told him. "But," he paused. "I get it," he added.

"You do?" Tommy asked him, stunned.

"I didn't say I forgive you," Jason corrected him. "I said I get it. Almost did the exact same thing," he stated. "Almost," he added in, and Tommy frowned. "One of the things you missed."

"Jason," Tommy began and the first red ranger shook his head, preventing the green clad individual from going any further. He wasn't finished.

"But I'd say it probably the second worst decision of your life," Jason continued, crossing his arms over his chest, as Tommy frowned. Jason gave him a moment, watching his face for signs that the adult version was not in control. Tommy seemed calm, so after a second or so of silence, he continued. "You could have reached out, four months ago," he told Tommy, and Tommy sighed, realizing that of course that's what was making things worse. He nodded, as Jason continued. "The morphing grid gave you an opportunity to reconnect with everyone. Why didn't you?"

"Because I'm a fucking idiot," Tommy stated. "Look," he added, "I don't expect you to forgive me for cutting you out of my life. I don't like myself for it. I'm still dealing with the fact that everyone has lives I don't know about as a result of my own stupidity, so trust me, I get it. I was a stupid fucking idiot, who was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Now who's asking stupid questions?" Tommy asked him, with a smirk on his face. "Jason, we were best friends once."

"Once," Jason confirmed, looking away and nodding. He remembered. He'd spent the last week in the company of the teenager who not too much further down the road would be his best friend.

"I was, and still am, scared that you won't be able to forgive me," Tommy answered. "Because I don't deserve it," he added.

"You know," Jason spoke up after a few moments of silence between the two of them. "Just because you don't think you deserve something, doesn't mean you really don't. Thought you would have learned that the first time you wore green," he stated, plucking lightly at the forest green tank top that Tommy currently wore. Tommy frowned, trying to piece together what Jason was telling him. "You're not completely off the hook," Jason continued, "but to be perfectly honest, I'm tired of being angry with you. And I'm tired of not having you in my life," he added. "I'm willing to start rebuilding if you are?"

"Still want to beat me?" Tommy asked him, a slight grin on his face.

"When Billy gets you completely back to normal, yeah," Jason stated. "Because if I kicked your ass now," he laughed, thinking about the sparring match he'd had with Tommy a few days before. "It really wouldn't be fair to beat you twice."

"Twice?" Tommy frowned, and Jason grinned. He really didn't remember anything. That was definitely interesting. "Jason, what happened this past week? How did you even get here?"

"Well, your damn memory device thing reverted you into a fifteen year old," Jason told him plainly.

"No shit," Tommy responded, and Jason cuffed him lightly in the head. Tommy rubbed the back of his head, glaring slightly. Jason raised an eyebrow at him, indicating that there was a clear size difference between the two. "Go on," Tommy stated, reluctantly.

"Your memory was that of yourself right after we destroyed the sword of darkness," Jason explained.

"That far back? Shit," Tommy interrupted and Jason nodded, placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"Could have been worse," he reminded Tommy. "Rocky and Adam put the dino thunder rangers in touch with me to help since Kim and Billy were out of touch. I've been here since Friday afternoon."

"You came to help me?" Tommy asked, despite knowing what Jason had said about the matter earlier. It still surprised him.

"Bro," Jason addressed him, purposely, a slight grin on his face, "I will always come when you need help," he explained. "Even if I hate your guts," he laughed. Tommy smiled and shook his head.

"So what else?" Tommy asked him. "When did Billy get here?"

"Today's Friday. Ethan told me that he's been here since two in the morning," Jason stated with a shrug. "I'm assuming Kim told him the situation as soon as he arrived and he immediately started working on fixing it, because the last time I saw you last night, you were definitely fifteen year old Tommy Oliver," Jason laughed, "Not this weird teenage/adult combo."

"Haha," Tommy stated, rolling his eyes, though he failed to suppress the blush that came to his cheeks. "One more question?"

"Shoot," Jason stated, nodding, surprised and at the same time not surprised there was only one. Tommy was missing a lot of shit in his memory. But at the same time, he definitely understood the fact that Tommy realized he probably didn't need or want every detail.

"Why were you, Adam, and Rocky so anxious to see if whatever Billy did, worked?"

Jason blinked. So apparently Tommy had been coherent enough to understand what was happening when the first two red rangers, and the second black one had come rampaging down the stairs into the lab. Tommy had been Adam and Rocky's leader for a while. He knew how to read them, and despite their separation and Tommy's stunned reaction to seeing him in his home, Tommy had still been able to read Jason as well.

He ran his hand over the back of his head and grimaced, causing Tommy to change his look from pure curiosity to complete and total confusion and suspicion. "I'm not going to like the answer, am I?"

"That's an understatement," Jason stated as a snort of laughter escaped him. He exhaled slowly, and looked away from the adult in the teenager's body. "You are kind of not the only victim of that damn device."

"You've got to be kidding me? What happened?" Tommy asked, his tone changing from concern to panic.

"Can't till you calm down," Jason told him, realizing that the physically regressed ranger was in danger of losing control again. He raised one eyebrow at him. Tommy nodded slowly and took several deep breaths, thankful that Jason had caught onto the cues he gave and was willing to help him maintain control. He was going to need to talk to Billy as quickly as possible if he was losing control of his emotions so easily. "Haley called on Monday," Jason began explaining as soon as he was sure Tommy was back in control of himself. Tommy didn't question how Jason knew about Haley. Minor detail comparatively. He was not interrupting this explanation if he could help it. "The girls and Ethan offered to be her hands if she attempted to walk them through fixing what the device had done to you," he explained. "I still have no idea what went wrong, but" Jason added, gesturing to the demolished chair of doom in the corner.

"It's totaled. Exploded?" Tommy asked, counting his breaths to keep himself under control.

Jason nodded. "Explosion caused the chair to do the same thing to them that it did to you, based on what they were thinking about," Jason stated, looking at Tommy. His expression wore a question. "Evil rangers," Jason stated, with a smirk.

"Lovely topic of conversation," Tommy growled, looking away and rolling his eyes. "Ethan was thinking about Trent?" he asked his red clad companion. Jason nodded. "Must be rough on the guys if Ethan's gone back to the beginning," he remarked, more to himself than to Jason, and Jason could see the wheels turning behind his eyes. "Aisha would be wizard of deception," Tommy continued. "Damn, she's sixteen. No wonder Rocky's so anxious. And Tanya," he paused and Jason remained silent, waiting to see if he'd figure it out on his own. "When Gasket brain washed me?"

"Yeah," Jason confirmed with a nod.

"An eighteen year old for a fiancé," Tommy groaned, smacking himself in the head. "I should let you kill me," he added in. "Leave nothing for Adam to find," he told Jason who smirked and shook his head. "Well, I suppose we should get up there. We need to let Billy know about the side effect," he stated, pushing himself away from the desk, and starting towards the stairs.

"You forgot one," Jason stated, interrupting Tommy's forward motion. The regressed individual halted immediately and turned his head so he was looking at Jason over his shoulder.

"I saw Kira and Kim. They're fine," Tommy stated.

"They are," Jason repeated back to him with a nod and a smirk. He crossed his arms over his chest. Tommy frowned. "I have more than one reason to want to kill you," Jason told him. "Your stupid chair regressed my wife," he added.

Tommy blinked, stunned. "Your wife?" The last time they'd had a detailed conversation, Jason had been dating Emily. Beyond that, he knew nothing. Rocky and Aisha had reached out to him for their wedding, but he'd never known that Jason was married. He hadn't said anything during their moon mission with the other reds. Granted, neither one of them had said much to the other at all, beyond anything necessary for appearances. Was that because Jason hadn't been married two years ago? And why did Tommy get a strange sense that Jason wasn't angry because she'd been mixed up in ranger issues.

"Yeah," Jason smirked. "You've met her; used to be quite friendly; a little afraid of heights; goes by Trini," Jason stated, almost falling over laughing when Tommy's mouth fell open. "Kim never told you then?"

"Um… no," Tommy stated, small explosions going off in his mind. There was a slight bit more attitude in his statement than he'd meant to add and he heard it himself. He shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. So, Jason had come to his rescue, and so had Trini. That was two more individuals back in his life than he'd anticipated, but he could handle it.

"She's probably the worst off," Jason explained.

"Oh god," Tommy replied, Jason's words drawing him out of his thoughts. "And I look like him? Shit! Is she ok?" Jason was not surprised that Tommy was immediately worried about the teenage version of Trini, nor that he'd have figured out to what point she'd regressed. He knew that once her memory was restored, Trini would be just as happy to know that Tommy really did still care. The concern on his face was genuine, and Jason was reassured of his choice to work on forgiving his friend.

"Aside from being fifteen," Jason stated, "she's fine. Our son will be too," Jason added in, enjoying the pale green coloration Tommy's face turned. Forgive him he could do, however, since he couldn't physically torture him, this was actually the next best thing. "Oh, did I forget to mention we have a nearly four year old boy? He's here too. Bit upset his mommy doesn't remember him," Jason went on.

"Jason," Tommy whined, running his hand over his face. The adult was still in control, but just barely. "There's more isn't there?"

"More?" Jason asked. "What more could there be? We've covered that your stupid machine regressed Trini, Tanya, Aisha, and Ethan. The dino thunder kids have been dealing with memory gaps while struggling to come to terms with their recent power loss, something you did not cope well with the first time, yourself," Jason reminded him and Tommy blushed. Loss of power was one of the reasons he was currently in this mess. "Aisha's kids are a bit upset that their parents have been fighting almost non-stop since she found out she's married to Rocky; and Adam's been trying to keep his hands to himself when an eighteen year old Tanya flirts with him."

"Jason?" Tommy interjected.

"What have I left out," Jason laughed. "Oh right Adam, Rocky, and I had a drunken morphing adventure around Reefside Monday night to try and coup with the regression of the girls," he stated, counting off on his fingers all the chaos that had taken place. "That was a fun night," he added, "although I think Zack was a bit traumatized, considering he wasn't drunk."

"Zack's here?" Tommy interrupted, stunned. Jason smirked and nodded.

"Kat too," he laughed cruel as Tommy paled. "Tanya called her. She got here Wednesday," he explained quite cheerfully as the last bits of colored drained from Tommy's cheeks. "So, still want to head upstairs?"

* * *

Jason and Tommy's relationship is not fully repaired. They're both willing to work on it, and its going to take a while. There's a lot of hurt between them. Tommy's condition made it difficult to work through everything. But its a good start.

Anyway, my favorite part of this whole scenario is that we get to see Tommy find out about Baby Oliver a second time. Hehehe...

I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review if you feel so inclined.

Fateless Wanderer


	25. Chapter 25

Shorter chapter this time, but I still hope you enjoy. Not to much else, so yeah, I'll let you all read.

* * *

Despite the fact that Tyler was trying to get her attention back on the brontosaurus she held in her hands as she sat cross legged on the floor beside the toddler on his knees, Trini stared after Jason's retreating form, her brain trying to process the new piece of information she'd just been given. Billy was here. She'd known for days that they were waiting on Friday because that was when Billy would arrive, but it hadn't seemed real, until she'd been informed that he was present. When Katherine had arrived, it hadn't really meant much to her, as she had no idea who the blonde pink clad woman was, so seeing another former ranger as an adult wasn't something to panic over. And she was actually kind of glad for the second pink ranger's appearance as she was pretty sure Kim needed someone female and adult to talk to. Her best friend was definitely stressed out, even if Trini wasn't completely sure why.

But Billy was a completely different situation. She knew Billy. At the age she currently was, she would probably say that next to Kim, Billy was her closest friend, and she was his. She knew him inside and out, backwards and forwards. She was the only one who could completely understand what he said and that just strengthened their bond. But logic said that the Billy who was downstairs in the basement attempting to fix the bizarre predicament they'd gotten themselves into was not going to be the Billy she remembered. Would he look the same? Would she find him wearing round wire frame glasses with the square nose bridge and a pair of overalls? Would he speak as if he was a walking thesaurus? How much taller would he be? What would be the same and what would be different? As her mind contemplated every possible outcome, she fought to keep the panic that was welling up in her chest down.

"Ethan," Zack laughed, shaking his head as he held it in one hand. He could see Adam and Rocky chasing after Jason in the corner of his vision, though he was looking at the teenage former blue ranger. His words brought Trini out of her unnoticed stupor slightly to the point where she realized Tyler was getting frustrated with her lack of attention. She gave the boy a gentle halfhearted smile, and tried to resume playing with him, with half of her mind focusing on her own concerns and the conversation around her. "You've got to tell us these things. You can't just act like everything is normal," Zack laughed.

"Normal?" Ethan asked, raising an eyebrow. "There is anything remotely normal about this situation? Because if there is, I'd like to know about it."

"He has a point," Aisha giggled, still holding Katie to her, although in the moment, waking her up had been slightly forgotten, and the toddler had one arm draped around her mother's neck while she sucked the thumb of her other hand. "Do you guys really think Billy can fix this?"

"If anyone can, you know its Billy," Katherine told the former yellow ranger, a grin on her face. "I can't wait to see him," she added in and Zack nodded. Both former rangers had been in communication with Billy. Like Tommy they had the capability of video chatting with him. But Zack hadn't seen Billy in person since he'd left for the peace conference when they were sixteen, and Katherine hadn't seen him since he'd left with Cestria for Aquaritar during their senior year.

"What's he like?" Ethan asked the others, suddenly, a bit of a blush on his face. "I mean," he paused, fumbling over his words, glad his teammates weren't around.

"He's the first of your color," Zack stated with a nod, understanding the teenager's interest. "Of course you'd want to know. Though, from what I've been told, you actually got to see him more recently than I have," he added in with a laugh, and Katherine hit him lightly.

"Billy's wonderful Ethan," the Australian blonde told him. "He's smart and brave," she explained, not realizing that Trini had perked up slightly when Ethan asked his question. She wanted to know as well. See if Zack and Katherine would describe her friend the way she remembered him. The fifteen year old yellow ranger was slightly caught off guard when Zack had suggested the dino thunder team had more contact with Billy than he had, but she did remember being told that Billy had moved to another planet, so it made a tiny bit of sense. "Everything a blue ranger should be," Kat added, hugging the teenage boy around the shoulder, and balancing Luke in her other hand. "Quite like you," she put in, having gotten to know the dino thunder teenagers a bit over the last day or so.

"How do you explain Rocky then?" Tanya laughed, causing everyone to laugh and grin. Trini relaxed just enough to let herself enjoy the joke at the older individual's expense. Over the last few days she'd come to find she liked the second red ranger, though he was definitely not the leader of the team that Jason had been.

"I'm pretty sure even I know enough not to ever try and explain Rocky," Aisha laughed.

"Definitely not something any sane person would attempt," Zack agreed. "You'd hurt yourself."

Footsteps on the stairs made the group in the living room pause their conversation. Zack and Katherine both frowned instantly, concerned that the others hadn't been gone long. A short absence didn't sit well with their idea of Billy having a solution. However, three teenagers looked toward the stairs hopeful, while the fourth suddenly grew intensely quiet again as her face paled.

"I don't get it," Rocky's voice reached them. "Explain why Tommy egged Jason on?" he asked, though it wasn't clear who his question was directed at. "Jason could have killed him." Kimberly moaning in frustration and possibly anguish was heard before Adam could be heard.

"Kim," he stated. "Don't worry. I'm sure Jason won't kill him. It'll be alright," he added. "Rocky," he directed at his best friend. "The explanation is simple. Tommy is an idiot," he replied.

"I still don't get what happened," Billy's voice added to the mixture. "I'll need to look back over all the data as soon as I can."

"You should probably get some sleep," Connor stated.

"Agreed," Trent and Kira both said at once.

"You've been at it since two in the morning," Kira continued. "You'll function better once you've given your brain a chance to recharge," she finished as the group from the basement finished the climb from the basement and rounded the corner into the living room. Kira had her arm still wrapped around Kimberly's shoulder. Trent and Connor brought up the rear of the group, and Adam and Rocky only partially blocked Billy from the view of those who'd stayed upstairs.

"Aww man! Billy!" Zack couldn't resist jumping of the couch and rushing over to one of his first teammates. He grabbed the blue clad individual in a hug, shouldering Adam and Rocky out of the way, as Kim and Kira slipped around to sit on the sofa. Billy gripped Zack tightly, both men laughing from the happiness of finally seeing one another.

"It's been way too long," Billy affirmed as he and Zack released one another, only for his eyes to fall on Katherine who'd handed the infant back to his father and was waiting patiently for her own hug from the intergalactic blue ranger. "Kat! I can't believe you're here too," he stated.

"Thank Tanya for that one," she laughed in response as they hugged and then pulled apart. Katherine gave Billy an appraising look and then smirked.

"What?" Billy laughed, concerned about the way the former pink ranger was eyeing him. "Is there something on my face?"

"You're younger than you were the last time I saw you," she giggled. "Are you sure the chair didn't get you too?"

"Haha," Billy mocked. "You're real funny," he stated, with a shudder. Every time anyone brought up his near death experience, Billy got a little freaked out. It was the one thing from his entire career with the rangers that Billy just could not comfortable laugh about. Zack, Adam, and Rocky, all looked amused, while Kira, Connor and Trent wore looks of confusion.

"What is she...," Trent began. Connor had fallen into Tommy's chair, while Trent perched on the back of the sofa behind Kira.

Billy shook his head. "Not something I want to relive," he added, shuddering slightly at the memory again. He hadn't told them about it when he'd first found them in Reefside, and he still had no intention of reliving that story. He sighed and then cast his gaze around the room as everyone fell quiet. Ethan was fidgeting with something on Tommy's mantel, although it seemed he was just trying to look busy and not that he was actually doing anything, however, it was clear he was listening to everything being said. Still, he'd seen and interacted with this quiet, shy, version of Ethan already, so he wasn't too concerned. It was the girls that were the center of his focus. He recognized all three, just not as he should have. They were all younger than they'd been the last time he'd seen them, either in person or via video chat. Aisha and Tanya were both staring at Billy wide eyed, while Trini had her head cast down to the ground, both hands covering her eyes. Tyler was pulling on one of his mother's arms, trying to get her to uncover them. "Ok, so I was expecting this, but it's still weird," he finally stated, looking at each of the three regressed former rangers.

"Tell us about it," Rocky stated, shaking his head, with a slight smirk. Aisha shifted her gaze to glare at him, causing Billy to laugh a little.

"How are you three holding up?" the former blue ranger asked the three yellow ones, getting Aisha's attention back. Aisha and Tanya both shrugged, unsure how to answer. They'd spent the last week with versions of their teammates that they didn't quite remember, and although they'd known to be prepared for Billy to be older as well, every time he'd been mentioned they hadn't been able to picture anything besides their teenage friend. And now there was an adult in front of them.

"As well as can be expected," Tanya volunteered with another shrug and Aisha smirked and nodded. Billy gave them both a reassuring smile and nodded, before shifting his attention to the youngest of the girls.

"Trini?" Billy asked, studying the fifteen year old. She looked exactly as he'd remembered her, but the fact that she wasn't looking at him like the other two, but was desperately trying to avoid it, concerned him. "Trini, are you alright?" The teenager responded by shaking her head.

"Trini," Kimberly asked, leaning towards her regressed friend. "What's wrong? It's just Billy," she stated, frowning, slightly concerned over the teenager's behavior. As much as what had happened down in the lab had distressed her, Trini was her best friend and clearly needed her. The first pink ranger slipped out of Kira's comforting hold.

"How long is it?" Trini squeaked out, causing everyone else to look at her in confusion. It was the first thing she'd said to anyone except Tyler since Ethan had revealed that Billy was not only back on earth but currently in the home they all occupied.

"What?" Kimberly asked her, and Trini shook her head harder, still not uncovering her eyes. "Trini, sweetie, what are you talking about?" Kim's face showed clear concern since the normally calm and logical Trini wasn't making any sense. That alone was cause to worry.

"How long is it?" the teenager restated. "The beard? How long is his?"

Several confused expressions gave way to a few giggles, as Kimberly climbed off the sofa, laughing and sat on her knees beside Trini, pulling the first yellow ranger's head towards her shoulder, and hugging her tight, running her hand over the back of the teenagers head in comfort. "Aww, Trin," she laughed a bit harder. "Billy hasn't got one," she giggled.

"He doesn't?" Trini asked, pulling her head away slightly and looking up at Kimberly, while Conner, Adam, Zack, and Rocky dissolved into hysterics. Katie and Tyler watched with confusion, and Trent, Kira, and Katherine wore amused expressions. Only Billy looked utterly confused.

"None what so ever," Kimberly laughed, hugging Trini around the shoulder. "He's got the same baby face he had in high school," she added.

"Thanks Kim," Billy stated sarcastically, as Trini finally turned to look at one of her closest friends. After rolling his eyes, he finally made eye contact with the fifteen year old. "Hey Trini," he stated, with a slight smile.

"Uh… hi," she stated, slightly hesitant, as she frowned, trying to reconcile what she'd thought she'd see, what she remembered Billy looking like, and what the nearly thirty year old version of one of her best friends really did look like. Kim was right. He was slightly older, but of the three boys on her team who hadn't been regressed, Billy was undeniably the most unchanged in physical appearance.

"Why'd you think he'd have a beard, Trini?" Adam asked the younger teenager once he'd gotten his laughter under control, unable to keep his curiosity at bay.

Trini, still wrapped in Kim's hug, turned to him and shrugged her shoulders. "Well," she began, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks and adding a pink tone to her pale skin. Her color was starting to come back, but the blush was still entirely noticable. "Zack's got a goatee, and Jason's got a full beard," she stated. "I just figured, he would too," she added in.

"By that logic Tommy should have a beard like Santa Claus," Rocky laughed, as every grinned, allowing the slight tension that Billy's arrival had brought to the regressed members of the group. Despite her embarrassment, even Trini laughed, as she and Billy made eye contact. Billy gave her a slight nod. He understood. She was terrified he'd have changed to the point where he was unrecognizable. And in that moment, with his nod, Trini was reassured that he was still her Billy. He understood her perfectly, and she understood him. She gave him a bright smile in return, and Billy saw her visibly and fully relax for the first time since he'd come up stairs.

"Speaking of Tommy," Zack stated, "Where are he and Jason?"

"Yeah, and why did you say Tommy was egging Jason on?" Katherine added in.

Despite their reluctance to add to the conversation, all four regressed individuals turned to hear the explanation as well. Why was Billy upstairs, but Tommy still downstairs?

"Did it work?" Tanya managed to squeak out, hopefully.

The joviality on the faces of those who'd been in the basement almost instantly disappeared, as most cast their gazes to the floor. Billy looked irritated, and Kim slightly on the verge of tears again, though she shook her head to get rid of them. Adam sighed and ran his hand over the back of his head.

"Not quite," he stated, thinking back over the situation that was still in the lab downstairs.

"What do you mean, not quite?" Zack asked his successor, a deep frown on his face. "How could he answer be anything other than yes or no," he pushed, clearly confused and also partially angry. Billy was supposed to be able to fix this. How had he failed? Where the regressed individuals stuck this way permanently?

"Zack," Connor stated, "Calm down. It's better than it was," he added.

"Dr. O's memories are back," Trent explained, reminding himself that although he still had a teenage body, the individual clad in green in the basement was not 'Tommy'. His high school science teacher was back, if only in mind. "He knows how old he's supposed to be."

"Supposed?" Tanya asked, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

"Billy restored Tommy's mind to that of his adult self, but he still has the physical appearance of his fifteen year old self?" Trini suggested, looking over at the blue clad adult, who bit his lip and nodded. "That's what you didn't fully understand. Why you want to look over the data again?" Trini stated, remembering Billy's words as he'd come up out of the lab.

"Affirmative," Billy stated, giving the teenager another reassuring smile. Of course Trini would understand. And while he didn't have the same tendency to use larger words as he did when he was younger, he knew adopting his old speech pattern would be more comfort to his regressed former teammate.

"So the Tommy downstairs remembers being an adult? He remembers isolating himself?" Kat asked, getting nods from the group who'd been down there and seen it. "And you left him there with Jason? Are you all nuts?"

"They needed to talk," Connor justified the decision he'd made and Trent nodded. "Jason won't actually try to hurt him," Connor insisted, "considering physically it would not be a fair fight," he added in, seeing the concern on Kimberly's face. She had to admit, Connor had a point. Jason and Tommy needed to talk. And they needed to do so without anyone else around. She wasn't completely sure Connor was right that Jason wouldn't attempt to pound Tommy into the ground, but she knew that they needed to talk things through sooner, rather than later.

"But Tommy doesn't remember anything that's happened over the last week. Billy was able to restore his adult mind, but since he wasn't an adult for the last week, it seems that's gone," Kimberly added in, hugging herself around the abdomen. There apparently was one slight positive to the current change in events.

"So he has no idea Zack, Trini, or I are here?" Katherine asked, frowning.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Rocky stated, shaking his head. "Connor and Trent commanded Jason to fill Tommy in on everything that's happened once they reach some type of understanding. We left them to it, because coming up to talk to the girls and Ethan was more important."

"Talk to us about what?" Aisha asked him, a concerned frown on her face. Rocky sighed and ran his hand over his face. He wasn't completely sure what her answer would be, nor what he hoped her answer would be.

"Billy hasn't found the solution to getting you all back physically," Kira told her. "Yet," she added in, seeing the concern and disappointment on Ethan's face. Similar expressions appeared on Aisha, Trini, and Tanya's faces as well.

"But we can get your adult minds back," Adam continued. "Maybe make it a little easier for you," he stated, eyeing Tanya. In the back of his mind, he was desperately hoping she'd agree to have her adult mind restored, and then maybe she'd stop trying to entice him. Maybe.

"But we won't remember anything since Monday?" Trini asked the adults and the dino thunder teenagers who all nodded.

"And physically, we'll still be kids?" Aisha asked, her eyes on Rocky. Rocky raised an eyebrow at her, surprised to hear her describe herself as such. Aisha had spent the last several days insisting she was anything but a kid, and hearing her say it now, let him know how hesitant she was. She'd even said it, being physically regressed, but knowing how old you were supposed to be would be a worse situation than having no memory of your real self.

"Essentially," Billy told her. "We won't force you," he added in, seeing the hesitation.

"Who needs to be forced?" Ethan finally spoke up, coming over to the group. "When can we get started?"

"Knew that'd be your response dude!" Connor laughed, approaching his best friend and tossing one arm over Ethan's shoulder, patting the blue clad teenager's chest with his other hand.

"I'm with Ethan," Tanya stated with a nod. "We might not be able to be physically grown up, but at least we'll know who we're supposed to be and who everyone else is," she added, and Adam gave her a smile and a nod.

"Trini? Aisha?" Zack asked the two girls who hadn't made a decision yet.

Trini was staring at Tyler. Would it be easier for him if his mother remembered being his mother, even if she didn't look that way? And then her mind went to Jason. She was completely fifteen. And while he'd clearly told her how much he loved her, he'd respected the fact that she didn't remember him as her husband. But what would happen when she did? What if she remembered and wanted to be physically close to him? How would her still being fifteen in body affect that? She bit her lip for a few moments. Before sighing. She and Jason weren't stupid. She knew they wouldn't do anything and it would definitely be easier to have her memories back. "It doesn't hurt right?"

"Well," Kim gave her a slight laugh. "Tommy did complain about a headache," she told the teenager, who smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Aisha?" Rocky asked the teenager who still hadn't given an answer. She seemed completely torn when she looked up and met his eyes.

"If I do it, I'll forget everything since Monday?" Aisha asked him, a tiny bit of apprehension in her eyes. Rocky nodded. "So I'll forget the story you told me at the zoo? I don't want to forget that."

Rocky smiled gently. "You'll forget hearing it as a story," he told her, "but you'll remember being there," he added. "It'll be part of your memories. Part of you," he reminded her.

"Do you want me to do it?" she asked him, completely ignoring the fact that everyone around them was watching.

"Like Billy said," Rocky told her with a sigh, "no one is going to force you." He ran his hand over his face, fighting his own desire to convince her. He didn't know what to say. What would her reaction to be to being physically sixteen, but twenty eight in mind? "But I won't lie and say I wouldn't like it if you did," he stated. "If only for Katie and Luke," he amended, trying to play off his own wants. Behind him Adam wore an amused expression and shook his head, while Aisha seemed to consider his words. Luke had fallen asleep in Rocky's arms while they talked, but Katie had finally woken up and was playing quietly on the floor with the plastic dinosaurs with Tyler, having completely given up getting Trini to play with him. She studied the little girl. She'd heard her last night, in the room across the hall, crying as Rocky desperately tried to put her to sleep that she wanted her mommy. Katie seemed to only badly need her mother at bed time, and Wednesday night, Aisha had even tried to help. Unfortunately, Katie perceived a distinct difference between the sixteen year old and her mother, and would have none of it. She'd finally cried herself to sleep both Wednesday and Thursday, despite Rocky's attempts to calm her. And it broke Aisha's heart.

"I'll do it," she mumbled, not taking her eyes off Katie, afraid that if she did she'd change her mind.

"Guess we should head downstairs then," Trent stated, a smirk on his features. He was quite pleased that Ethan would no longer fear him. "Billy?"

"I need to double check the settings, but yeah, let's get them somewhat normal again."

* * *

Tommy was pale and slightly greenish. His skin was draining of almost every color save the green tinge that was growing ever more present as all of Jason's information started to sink in. Mentally he began to count. Including himself, there were fifteen former rangers in his house. Excluding himself, and the dino thunder kids, because he saw them on a daily basis, he'd only reconnected with six of the remaining ten, and one of the other four had already expressed desire to kick his ass. He was pretty certain at least one of the other three would want to do that too. It was his device that caused one of the other three to regress, so that definitely wasn't good, and then there was the fact that at one point in his life one of the other three had also been a girlfriend.

Jason smirked as he watched Tommy. He wasn't entirely certain that the regressed adult wasn't going to pass out. He couldn't decide if he hoped he did or didn't. He'd definitely decided that if he couldn't actually take his anger out by hitting Tommy, watching him squirm uncomfortably was the next best thing. "Doing ok?" he asked Tommy, though he already knew the answer.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Tommy griped, running both of his hands over his face. Jason was leaning back against his desk still, arms crossed over his chest, and ankles crossed. Tommy didn't even need to look at his former teammate to know he wore a self-satisfied expression.

Jason smirked again and chuckled slightly. "Yep," he stated simply, laughing when Tommy groaned in response.

"I'm going to die," Tommy muttered. "Plain and simple," he added in. "You might as well just kill me now." Adam and Rocky would want to kill him for what had happened to Aisha and Tanya. When they got their memories back and got back to normal, Tanya would want to kill him and he was pretty sure Aisha would actually try. Kim was probably pissed off at him beyond belief for putting her through this, and then of course there were Zack and Katherine. They were only here for the same reason Jason and Trini were. Because he'd gotten himself in trouble and had needed their help. And they'd come. And it was his own damn fault that he'd let them go anyway.

"Can't," Jason replied. "Promised Kim," he added, uncrossing his arms and laughing again. "Ready to head upstairs and face the music?" he asked Tommy, cocking his head to the side, the amused grin never leaving his lips.

"I guess it's now or never," Tommy admitted, as Jason slung an arm over his shoulder.

"You know, I kind of like you being shorter than me," Jason laughed at him. "And the fact that I don't have to be the one to kill you is kind of amusing too," he added in.

"I'm glad my misery makes you happy," Tommy quipped, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, you did it to your-"

"You two still alive down there?" Connor's voice interrupted, barely preceding his body, as he descended down the stairs. "I mean, I'm pretty sure you are, but I don't want Kim to be mad at me," he added, a grin on his face. "Well, not any more than she already is," he amended. Jason and Tommy both looked up, surprised to see Connor wasn't alone. The other three dino thunder teenagers were behind him, and Tommy's eyes lingered on Ethan. Physically he looked the same, but there was definitely something off about his expression. Had Tommy not known that the teenager was mentally several months younger than he should have been, he still would have been concerned about his most recent blue teammate.

"What are you doing down here?" Tommy asked, ignoring Connor's question, which wasn't actually all that uncommon for him. He and Jason turned away from the stairs as the dino thunder team came down.

"Everyone decided they wanted to use Billy's solution and get their memories back," Kira told Tommy. "Did you expect them to decide anything else?"

"Everyone?" Tommy squeaked, realizing that although Connor, Kira, Trent, and Ethan were now in front of him, there were still footsteps on the stairs behind him.

"Everyone." Tommy cringed as his question was answered, not by Kira, but by a voice behind him, shoulders drawing up to his ears. He squinted his eyes together as tightly as possible. There was only one person present with that accented musical voice. He did not want to turn around.

"Dude," Connor laughed at his mentor's physical response. "They're not going anywhere, you might as well turn around," he stated, ignoring the glare Tommy was giving him in response to being called dude. Seriously, what did his fifteen year old self let the red clad teenager get away with for the last week?

"Tommy, the sooner you acknowledge our existence," a second new, but still familiar voice addressed him, "the sooner you can get my desire to kill you over with."

Tommy squared his shoulders and sighed, turning around, blinking a few times at what he saw behind him. Kim stood with Tyler balanced on her hip, both hands wrapped beneath the toddlers bottom as she leaned away from him to more comfortably support his weight. Adam carried Katie in a similar position, but due to her lighter weight and the fact that he was physically stronger than the former pink ranger, his stance was more balanced. Rocky had Luke laid against his shoulder, the infant sound asleep. Each of the three adults wore a smirk on their face. However, that's where the expected ended and the unexpected and mind boggling began. Yes, consciously, the rest he knew, but as with each of the others, knowing of it and seeing it were completely different things.

Zack and Katherine stood closest to him, both of them had their arms crossed over their chests. The teenager in front of them looked no different from who they'd seen the evening before, but if his reaction to their voices hadn't been enough to confirm what everyone else had told them, the look in his eyes was. Tommy's eyes lingered on each of their faces for a few moments before it drifted past them to the three teenage girls behind them. He blinked rapidly, multiple times. His own regression was bad enough, but the fact that he'd been responsible for each of them at some point, made him feel worse seeing what had happened.

"Just get it over with," Tommy finally managed to choke out, his eyes darting back to Zack and Katherine.

"Get what over with?" Katherine asked him, smirking. "You mean the part where we tell you how big of a butt head you've been over the last decade?"

"Or the part where we beat the crap out of you?" Zack stated. "Because I'm not Jason. I have no reservations behind taking advantage of the fact that I can currently morph and you can't and kicking your ass," he added.

"Bro," Jason scolded. "Little ears," he added to Zack as he took Tyler from Kim, and set him on the floor, holding his hand. Zack shrugged, not really caring now that he was actually face to face with Tommy.

"When you're back to full size I'm taking a shot at you after Jason's done," Zack told Tommy. "Sorry Kimmie," he added to the pink clad woman who sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Right now, we have more important things to do than deal with you," Kat told Tommy, reaching back and hugging Tanya around the shoulders. Tanya, Aisha, and Trini had watched the conversation silently, not completely understanding, but knowing that while he still looked the same as he had since Monday, Tommy was mentally older than they were again. "Billy? You ready?"

Billy had ignored everyone else and gone over to the computers. He was typing a bunch of commands and connecting various cables and wires. He looked up from where he worked and gave Kat a nod and a thumbs up.

"Wait a minute," Tommy stated. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea," he added.

"Why not?" Rocky asked the regressed man. "You got your memories back and haven't spontaneously combusted. Why should you be the only one with a semblance of normal?"

"You think I like being like this?" Tommy snapped, his volume increasing with every word. His face flushed red with anger and his eyes flashed darkly. "You think this is fun? I'm responsible for this! I'm responsible for everyone! And you think I'd stop them from getting back to normal because I'm selfish?"

"Whoa…" Adam stated, letting Katie slide to the ground. Aisha dropped her hand to the little girl's shoulder to keep her stationary while Adam walked up to Tommy his hands out in front of him in concern, as the teenager took short quick inhales and exhales, struggling to catch his breath. "What was that?" Adam stated, frowning, as he placed both hands on the physical teenager's shoulders, trying to steady him.

"That was the reason Tommy doesn't think allowing them to use Billy's solution is such a great idea," Jason stated, getting questioning looks from each of the others. He wore a look of concern on his face, and sadly he agreed with Tommy. He wasn't entirely sure allowing Ethan and the girls to use Billy's device was such a great idea. "Billy, Tommy's been losing control of his emotions every time he gets even slightly upset," Jason explained to the former blue ranger. "It's like he becomes a teenager emotionally. One exactly the age he physically is."

"We've been through that before," Rocky stated, remembering an incident where he'd been about eight years old and had decked Connor over the fact that Aisha paid more attention to him.

"This feels a little different," Tommy stated, his eyes squeezed shut. Adam still had his shoulders in his grip, which was a grounding feeling. "It's not a simple case of embarrassment."

"Do you remember what just happened?" Billy asked him. He'd already grabbed a bio scanner the moment Jason started explaining and was walking towards Tommy with it. Tommy shook his head, opening his eyes slowly. He gave Adam a quick nod, letting the man know he was ok.

"Not entirely," he stated. "I have a sense of what I did," he added, "but I don't remember exactly how I acted or what I said. It feels like I've just lost control. Like I'm a passenger in my own body."

"Like you're trapped in an uncontrollable zord?" Zack suggested for him. Tommy looked up at him when he offered the comparison and thought for a moment, before nodding his head.

"Yeah, a little like that," he let out a light laugh, and then held still. Billy was frowning and was running the bioscanner around his body. Tommy knew better than to move until the former blue ranger told him it was ok. "Rocky, you remember punching Connor in the face right?"

"If he doesn't, I definitely do," Connor muttered, rubbing his eyes where Rocky had struck him. Connor would argue it was about four months ago, but Rocky would say it had been nearly ten years. Still, neither red ranger denied the incident, as Rocky blushed red and nodded.

"Yeah, well, I know I just flew off the handle, but I don't have the slightest clue what I said or what I did," Tommy continued, which caused Rocky, as well as every other former ranger in the lab, to frown. "It happens pretty frequently too," he added in while Billy finished the scan and took the data to the computer to run it. "I'm worried it means Billy's solution isn't permanent."

"Or worse," Jason agreed with a nod. "While I don't necessarily want to agree with him, and I'd love for Trini to have her memories back," he ended, not finishing his thought. Each person save the three children present were former rangers. They understand that with everything there were risks. Most of the time the potential benefits out weighted the risks, but not always, and Jason had already decided that he didn't think the benefits of Billy's work were worth risking something even more catastrophic happening to his wife and friends.

"Well," Billy stated after a few moments during which silence had overtaken the room. "Data came back," he added, turning around. "Physically you are definitely one hundred percent fifteen."

"Tell me something I don't know, would you Billy?" Tommy stated, with a slight laugh. That was clearly not news to him.

"It's just your hormones, and the fact that you've spent a week in this body," Billy continued. "You're testosterone levels are in a rapid state of flux, constantly overloading your body to the point where you're having difficulty controlling yourself," he laughed.

"Tommy's a walking bomb of teenage angst?" Adam questioned, raising an eyebrow, a smirk on his face.

"Wasn't like this when I really was fifteen," Tommy argued, though he was glaring at his black clad friend. It was the truth though. At fifteen years old, sure he'd been a little moody, but the littlest things hadn't set him off.

"Bro, when you really were fifteen we had punching bags in the shape of whatever Rita could throw at us to beat on. There was never really any down time for us to let things build up," Zack told him. "So he's fine Billy?"

"As fine and healthy as any fifteen year old male can be," Billy stated with a nod. "The hormonal control of your body should lessen over time, the more your older mental state takes control."

"So if we use the device on the girls and Ethan?" Trent asked Billy, and everyone looked up at the adult former blue ranger with hope and apprehension.

"Ethan will no doubt be perfectly satisfactory as his current physical chemistry is not statistically significantly different from his actual biochemical make up," Billy stated. "I'd predict Aisha and Trini would be the worst off. Not quite as bad as Tommy, being as they're female and not quite so prone to anger, but there could be some emotional issues."

"But they wouldn't be in any danger, right?" Rocky asked and Billy shook his head in the negative. "Well, then it's still up to you guys. If you want to do it, we won't stop you," he added in.

"The sooner the better," Ethan stated with a nod.

"Can you do all four of us at the same time Billy?" Tanya asked him, as Billy directed the four still mentally regressed individuals to the sofa. Ethan let the girls take the sofa and sat on Tommy's desk chair beside them.

"Not quite at the same time," Billy explained, "But pretty close. Trent would you mind helping move the helmet from one to the next. That way I can stay at the computer and program it for each of them," he asked the teenage former white ranger who nodded. "Ok, so Kim already told you Tommy said he got a headache, and we've covered the emotional behavioral issue. Tommy is there anything else they should know?"

"No," Tommy stated, shaking his head. Tommy was leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest, one foot braced against the wall. Billy blinked for a moment, trying to reconcile the very Doctor Tommy Oliver stance and attitude with the newly minted green ranger he saw in front of him. When he was seventeen, he'd gotten the opportunity to see differences between his friend as a teenager and who he'd be when he'd grown up. But those were just memories, tempered by the amount of time that existed between them. Now, it was a little backwards. He had memories of what his friend was like as a teenager, and disconcerted him slightly to see that teen acting like an adult.

"It'll look a little scary," Kimberly interjected, looking more pointedly at the three girls. "Electricity and what not. And you're going to pass out," she added. "But when you come to, it'll be ok," she added, seeing the slight looks of concern on all their faces. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Ethan and Tanya both stated at the same time, while Aisha and Trini each nodded once.

"Trent, put the helmet on Trini please," he stated, indicating the girl who set on the furthest end of the sofa. The white clad teen did as he was instructed, and then stepped back. Billy looked over at Trini who bit her lip, slightly nervous but nodded. Billy gave her a quick nod in return and typed a few commands. As it had with Tommy, bolts of electricity raced from the computer to the helmet, engulfing it. Beside her, Aisha and Tanya both gasped and moved away slightly. Ethan's and Tommy's eyes shot open. Jason made to dart forward, but Connor gripped his shoulder, while Zack, Kat, Adam, and Rocky all looked worried. "She's fine," Billy stated, seeing the concern around him. Almost as soon as he spoke, the bright light from the device stopped and Trini's eyes rolled back. She slumped forward and this time Jason managed to shake off Connor's grasp as Trent was removing the helmet from her head.

"She doesn't look fine," Jason retorted, as he helped lean Trini's body back against the sofa. Aisha, beside her, looked apprehensive, as Trent came to put the helmet on her. Rocky even looked as if he were second guessing having her do this.

"She is," Kim assured Jason, stepping up to him and placing her hand on his shoulder, nodding to Trent and Aisha. Aisha sighed and let closed her eyes, biting down on her lip as Trent placed the helmet on her head. "Aisha's ready Billy," Kim told him, drawing Jason back a bit. Connor who had been between Jason and Rocky, gave the second red ranger's shoulder a reassuring squeeze as the process started over, engulfing the second yellow ranger. As soon as it ended, Trent repeated the process with Tanya and with Ethan, causing all four to descend into the realm of unconsciousness.

"Shouldn't she be waking up now?" Jason asked, as Trent pulled the helmet off of Ethan and set it down on the computer desk near Billy. His eyes were locked onto his regressed wife, his expression showed almost pure fear.

"Give her a few moments," Billy told him gently, "this is a simple process," he added in. He was watching Trini for any signs of physical distress, and clearly didn't see any. A moment later, Trini's eye lids began to flutter and she slowly blinked her eyes open. She turned her head slightly, as her vision cleared, and bought her hands to her head.

"Trin?" Jason asked, coming closer to her and pulling one of her hands into his.

"There was an explosion," she mumbled, "what happened? Is everyone ok?" she added, concern evident on her features.

"How do you feel?" Billy interrupted, wanting to make sure she was physically ok, just as Tommy was. However, he'd kind of forgotten that if things had worked, which they appeared to, that she had no idea he was there.

"Billy!" Surprise, shock, disbelief, and then pure joy spread across the teenage girl's face. Ignoring everything else around her, she jumped off the sofa and latched onto his neck, hugging him tightly. "Oh my god, you're here! I can't believe it's you," she stated, clinging to him. Not expecting her reaction, Billy's expression changed from taken aback to a look of resignation as he gave Jason a helpless smile over Trini's shoulder and hugged her back tightly. Jason sighed and stood up, retuning his friend's smile reluctantly. Regressed or not, he'd always known how Trini would react when she finally saw Billy again. He'd been gone when she'd finally come home from the peace conference, so the last time she'd seen him in person, she'd been just slightly older than her body currently was.

"I'm happy to see you too, Trini," Billy told her, as she pushed herself away from him to study his features. Billy watched her, wondering exactly how long it would take. He knew the others were watching as well. Trini did not disappoint him. Only a few seconds passed before her smile slowly became a frown and the physical teenager spotted Katherine over Billy's shoulder. Explosion should not have equaled randomly arrivals of former rangers.

"You're not supposed to be here until Friday," Trini stated slowly, looking around the room. Tyler and Katie sat on the floor in the corner of the room, Tyler's dinosaurs strewn around them, although their attention was on the adults. Luke slept in Rocky's arms, while Adam, Rocky, Zack, Katherine, and Kimberly all watched her apprehensively. Tommy leaned against the wall, his eyes locked on her and Billy. There was something strange about his gaze; the expression he wore was unfamiliar, something she hadn't seen since she'd arrived in Reefside. Slowly she turned her head the opposite direction, and was startled to see Ethan, unconscious, surrounded by the other three dino thunder teenagers. Clearly, the explosion she remembered had done something.

"Trini," Jason began, trying to explain before she jumped to any conclusions on her own. However, her eyes finally found Aisha and Tanya. Not only were they both unconscious, but there was absolutely nothing normal about the fact that they appeared no older than they'd been when they were active rangers.

"It is Friday, isn't it?" Trini asked, closing her mouth that had fallen open. Around her, everyone conscious nodded, as Trini let go of Billy and walked closer to Jason, studying his face, and taking a few breaths to steady herself. "Jason Scott," she stated, a tiny bit of edge to her voice, "how old am I?" Jason grimaced and ran a hand through his hair. "How old am I, Jason," she repeated, as Jason bit down on his lip.

"Fifteen?" It came across more as a question than an answer.

* * *

So summer is coming to an end, but I do hope to try and get one more chapter to you guys before I head back into the full swing of the fall semester. Things are getting back to normal, slowly, but that doesn't mean the end of the story. It just means that there has to be some new type of chaos thrown in.

Anyway, if you feel inclined to leave a review, please do.

Thanks,

Fateless


	26. Chapter 26

Hey everyone, sorry for the delay. Life's been a bit crazy and the semester has started, so not sure when I'll be able to get you guys the next update. Anyway, this chapter's more on the long side of things (not the longest, but it's 4k more words than the last one, so that should make up for me not updating for a little. As always, I hope you enjoy and if you do, leave a review and let me know.

* * *

Trini's eyes shot wide open, her mouth hung slightly as she digested the number that Jason had stated. Her view of Aisha and Tanya had told her it was bad, but until he'd spoken she really hadn't thought it would be that bad. Fifteen years old. She wouldn't have been a ranger long. She would have no idea who Aisha, Rocky, Adam, Tanya, or Kat were. Jason wouldn't have been anything more to her than a good friend. And Tommy? Oh god, there was a chance that she may not have known Tommy, or even worse. And then she blinked. The device ran on memories. They'd been discussing evil rangers. Of course she was fifteen. She had lived through one of the worst evil rangers in history and she'd been discussing it with Aisha, Tanya, and Ethan right before the chair of doom had apparently decided to spontaneously combust. Her skin paled as everything sunk in, feeling all eyes in the room on her, and there were a lot of them.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Trini muttered, bringing her palm to her forehead and swaying slightly. Jason caught her and helped steady her, refusing to let her go, as the next few events happened in rapid succession.

"Sick is an understatement," Aisha's voice muttered. She had stirred and was leaning forward, using her thumb and index finger of her right hand to rub her eyes, while the left hung limply over her knee.

"Did anyone happen to get the license plate of the truck that hit me?" Tanya's voice joined in, as Ethan moaned and began shifting. The former yellow Zeo ranger sat forward and perched both elbows on her knees cradling her head.

"Jason mentioned the number fifteen. Maybe that's part of it," Aisha told her, rubbing her eyes. "Damn it's bright in here," she muttered, and Tanya nodded. The dino thunder teens had gathered around Ethan when he'd started to stir, leaving the yellow clad girls to their more experienced counter parts. Ethan they could handle. Three freaked out yellow rangers were definitely beyond their limited capabilities.

Rocky shifted Luke into one arm and immediately rushed closer to Aisha. However, before he could reach her side, Katie became irritated by the fact that Tyler was no longer paying attention to her, but was focused on watching the interaction between his mother and father. Annoyed, the younger toddler balled both of her hands into fists, scrunched up her face and let out a squeal that could have rivaled Kira's ptera scream, causing everyone in the room to wince and turn toward the toddler.

Ethan reacted immediately, his body conditioned that a scream like that usually meant danger, and his eyes snapped open, taking in the entire scene around him. His mouth dropped open, and although he cast questioning looks at Kira, Trent, and Connor who stood over him, his shock at seeing Trini, Aisha, and Tanya in teenage bodies had rendered him incapable of producing sound.

For her part, Aisha's eyes shot open instantaneously at the sound of her disgruntled offspring, locating the child within milliseconds, her gaze turning from gentle to scolding. "Katelyn Michelle DeSantos! Don't you ever scream like that again," she scolded, immediately realizing that the toddler was not in danger, but was incredibly bored and needed attention and had chosen a scream to get it.

Katie blinked rapidly, unsure of the tone of voice emanating from the teenager girl who looked a little like her mommy, but definitely didn't act like her mommy. She'd determined toward the beginning that the lone teenager in green was 'kind of uncky ranger' and therefore, the smaller version of her mother was 'kind of mommy', but neither one of them was the real uncky ranger or mommy. They didn't act right. However, the scolding she had just received was enough to change the stubborn two year old's mind. This teenager was definitely her mother, no 'kind of' about it. Sheepishly, the small girl bowed her head and scrapped her shoe against the floor, clearly embarrassed to have been yelled at in front of people and regretting her poor decision of screaming. "Sowey mommy," she muttered, not taking her eyes off her toes as Aisha's expression softened and she nodded once, enjoying that her daughter had instantly begun to behave and was definitely sorry for her behavior. Although, the former yellow ranger did have to wonder when Katie had developed such horrible manners.

"Oh thank Zordon, she's definitely back," Rocky burst out, shifting the sleeping Luke higher on his shoulder, while hugging his physically regressed wife around the shoulder tightly, complete and utter relief in his expression. Aisha frowned and turned to meet his eyes, hugging him back awkwardly.

"Um… back?" she asked, uncertainty in her voice. "Rocky, babe, the stupid chair exploded, but last time I checked I didn't go anywhere?" She hadn't had she? She took a moment to gaze around at her surroundings. Luke in Rocky's arms, Katie and Tyler standing on the floor near the stairs with a pile of dinosaurs, dino thunder teenagers in the lab, Billy and Jason coaxing Trini to sit, Tommy leaning against the wall, Adam looking apprehensively at Tanya who's own face reflected shock and disbelief, Kim and Zack appeared slightly concerned, and Kat giving her a gentle smile. Aisha blinked a few times as her brain processed everything she just took in. There were several things wrong with the current situation, least of all being the spontaneous arrival of two additional former rangers, one she definitely had not been expecting. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" she cursed, as her brain figured out the puzzle in front of her, she shrugged herself out of Rocky's hold, and she began taking a physical inventory of her body.

"Adam," Tanya spoke up, her eyes wide as she searched the room for him, ignoring the curse her predecessor in power had spoken. "Please explain why I'm barely a legal adult," she stated, as calmly as possible, though they could all hear the fear in her voice as it shook.

"Not exactly the easiest thing to explain," Adam told her, wincing. "Chair of doom got you," he added in.

"Are you guys alright?" Kimberly asked going up to the three girls. Trini was tucked under Jason's arm, she was shaking slightly. Aisha looked pissed off, like she wanted to hit something, and Tanya just looked shocked. "Physically I mean," she added with a bit of a laugh when all three girls gave her looked that could best be interpreted as 'you're kidding, right?'

"How long have we been like this?" Tanya stated, her eyes scanning the room and finding Kat, unable to resist her face breaking out into a smile. Well, at least some good seemed to have come of the situation if Katherine was making an appearance at Tommy's home in Reefside. Once she figured out exactly what was going on, she'd react a bit better to seeing her best friend at their reunion.

"Since Monday," Zack replied, shaking his head. "But you would know it started Monday. It's Friday," he explained with a bit of a laugh.

"So we've been running around as teenagers for five days?" Aisha asked, looking up at Rocky who nodded.

"Well," he laughed, hugging her tightly around the shoulders again and resting his chin on top of her head. She was still in the body of a sixteen year old. That was the most physical affection he was allowing himself. Granted, it appeared to be a hell of a lot more physical affection than Adam was willing to show Tanya. The former black rangers was still a good four feet away from the eighteen year old, who as she'd put it was "barely legal". "More like four," he added. "Accident happened after noon on Monday, and it's not even lunch time yet on Friday."

"Yes, Rocky," Katherine snorted a slight laugh. "I'm sure those extra half days make all the difference," she laughed, causing everyone, except Ethan, who still appeared to be in shock, to grin.

"Well," Aisha exhaled deeply, closing her eyes against the pain reverberating in her head, "Rocky being in charge of Katie for the last few days explains why she thinks she can just screech at the top of her lungs and act like a heathen," she stated, shaking her head slowly in exasperation.

"You're a lot calmer about this than I thought you'd be," Kira chimed in from her position near Ethan, who's eyes were darting around the room from person to person as he tried to piece together exactly what was going on. He didn't like that he had no idea when Billy had gotten there, and he was completely clueless as to the identity of the second pink clad individual. For a brief moment, he'd had the added panic of believing there was a civilian amongst the chaos, but he knew the more senior veteran rangers would be able to keep their cool even in the most insane situations so as not to risk exposer, and as a result, it was safe to deduce that the blonde who'd spoken with an Australian accent was another of their 'family'.

"I'm pretty sure I can list off situations that have been a lot worse than this," Tanya replied to her color twin. "Being younger than I should be is not the worst thing that's ever happened to me," she added, her mind going back only just four months before when she'd nearly gotten her head bashed in by an enraged evil version of her fiancé, who was still standing away from her as if she was contaminated. "Adam?" she finally snapped, her eyes narrowing into a glare. "Why the hell are you staring at me like that?"

"I was wrong," he muttered, barely loud enough for anyone not paying attention to hear. "This is worse," he added as a blush crept up onto his cheeks. Tanya's glare turned into a highly confused frown, as Rocky dissolved into hysterics, and Adam muttered something about misery.

"Come again?" Tanya asked her fiancé, ignoring the former red/blue ranger, who was getting strange looks from half the basement lab's population, including the two toddlers, who had quietly gone back to playing with the plastic dinosaurs, not entirely understanding or even interested in the chaos around them.

"I'll explain later," Adam muttered, turning his attention away from her and desperately seeking a distraction, which he quickly found in the still as of yet, silent Ethan. "Ethan?" he questioned. "You doing ok?"

Startled out of his stupor at actually being addressed, Ethan blinked a few times rapidly and then shook his head.

"You're gonna need to say something, dude," Connor encouraged his best friend, who looked up at him and blinked again. "Seriously," Connor added, "you're scaring us." Beside him, Trent and Kira nodded, and even Tommy, from his vantage point, still glued to the wall, leaned towards them, concern on his features.

"I-" Ethan managed, realizing his mouth had gone dry. He closed it and swallowed, trying to remoisten his tongue. "Since Monday?"

"Yep" Trent replied, patting the former blue ranger on the shoulder, and smiling when the teen did not flinch away at his physical contact.

"Billy found a way to fix it already?" Ethan asked, looking down at the watch he wore on his wrist that showed it was still fairly early in the morning on Friday. He shifted his eyes from his watch to the first of the blue ranger lineage, who gave him a slightly sad smile in return, along with a head shake.

"Not entirely," Billy affirmed. "I was able to restore your mind to the proper age, but your physical appearances aren't quite as simple. I'm not entirely sure where to even start on that at this point."

"That's because you're exhausted," Connor and Jason both stated at the same time, before sharing a grin and a nod. "But for Ethan, the physical isn't really all that big a deal. That chick," he stated, and immediately regretted it when Kira smacked the back of his head as hard as she could with her palm. "Sorry, the girl, Alex?" he questioned the name, "she didn't notice anything different when we ran into her at Cyberspace."

Ethan glared at Connor, pushing himself out of the chair and standing. He flexed his muscles hopefully and then sighed, dejected. "What do you mean no big deal? This is catastrophic!" the dark skinned teenager told his teammates who laughed. "Seriously! I worked hard for those muscles. I was awesome!"

"And you can work hard again," Kira laughed, shaking her head as her blue clad teammate poked and prodded his own body. While to most people there was definitely no noticeable outward appearance, Ethan felt he looked like an entirely different person. "Seriously Billy, no rush on fixing Ethan. He could use the humility," she added, crossing her arms over her chest and raising her eyebrow Ethan, who blushed slightly and halted his physical inspection.

"Billy," Trini spoke up from her seat on the sofa beside Jason. "Did you know what would happen? When you tried out the solution on us?" Billy ran his hand over the back of his head and opened his mouth to answer.

"He never would have tested something on us if he wasn't sure what it would do," Aisha answered for him, frowning. Granted, he had tested out his theories about the evil rock on Adam, but Billy hadn't forced him; Adam had volunteered.

"Yeah," Billy stated simply, nodding. "You know I'd never put you guys at risk," he added in.

"But you couldn't have known that the fix would only work on our minds if you didn't test it," Ethan put in, walking past Billy and going to the computer. He skimmed the readouts from the device, searching the data. "There's nothing here that would have given you any indication of what would happen," he stated accusingly.

"We're rangers," Tanya stated, her eyes scanning the room. "And while that means we're all willing to take risks," she continued.

"There are some rangers always willing to take bigger risks for the sake of the others," Aisha finished for her. Leaders. She, Trini, and Tanya had figured out exactly who had taken that risk and tested Billy's solution and had each located him with their eyes. He was still standing at the back of the lab, leaning against the wall, his palms behind his back pressed against the stone surface. His gaze wasn't on them, but rather on the toes of his shoes, side by side on the ground as he listened to them piece things together. When they'd regressed, Tommy had already been fifteen in mind. Now they knew the quiet teenage boy in the corner wasn't really a teenager.

Trini shifted out of Jason's loose hold over her shoulder, and the former red ranger let her go. She stood up and slowly walked over to Tommy, her feet coming into his field of vision. Both physical fifteen year olds could feel everyone watching them. Tommy did his best to ignore them and looked up from his feet to meet Trini's gaze, both their faces showing guarded expressions. "You're back?" Trini finally asked after a few moments of stunned silence. Tommy nodded once, fear in his eyes. He had no idea what Trini was thinking. "But when you made the choice to try out the device, you wouldn't have been. You were fifteen," she continued, and again Tommy nodded. "You were fifteen and you made the choice to risk yourself to get us back to normal?"

"I don't remember doing it," Tommy stated, shaking his head.

"But you did it," Trini stated. Again, Tommy nodded. "You'd do it again?"

"Of course," he stated, slightly taken aback that she'd even had to ask him that question, but when he looked into her eyes and saw the uncertainty and the pain in them, he realized that she was perfectly entitled to ask it. He'd abandoned her, just like he'd done to everyone else. Tanya and Aisha knew he would save them any way he could, not matter what, but that knowledge was only confirmed for them recently. Trini had no way of knowing he regretted his childish actions because he'd continued to make them by not immediately reaching out to the remainder of his teammates. "I-," he began, not even completely sure what he needed to say. However, the first yellow ranger cut him off, throwing her arms around his neck pulling him into a tight hug, burying her face in his chest.

"Damn. I wanted her to hit him," Zack muttered, and then grunted when Kimberly elbowed him in the gut.

"If anyone could have gotten away with it, it would have been Trini," Adam stated, behind a grin at his predecessor's expense, giving Kim a playful grin despite the fact that she was now glaring at him. Jason simply watched his former best friend and his wife, a thoughtful expression on his face.

For his part, Tommy was stunned for a moment. He'd hurt her. He knew he had. He hadn't seen her since they were both about sixteen years old. The last time he'd spoken to her, at least on the phone, was right after he'd given up his Turbo Powers. And yet, she was hugging him. Silently, he thanked Zordon for Trini's heart and her willingness to forgive him. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him in a hug. "I am so sorry," he muttered, placing his chin on top of her head. "I'm sorry for pushing you away. I'm sorry for not being there. I'm sorry I missed your wedding and didn't know about Tyler. I'm sorry I didn't contact you," he stated, his voice not much more above a whisper. Trini nodded against him at each of his statements, listening carefully to each word he'd said. She hadn't spoken about it to Jason or Zack, but she'd decided days before, that she would forgive him, as long as he showed even the slightest hint of still caring about them. He'd risked himself. Yes, fifteen year old Tommy knew Trini, but he'd never met Aisha or Tanya or Ethan. The fact that the boy would risk himself for all of them, told Trini everything she needed to know. She had no doubt that the grown up version would have done the exact same thing.

Slowly, Trini pulled away, sniffling a bit, as she released him. She laughed shakily as she wiped her eyes. "Why am I crying?" she asked, although there was amusement in her voice.

"Teenage emotions," Tommy laughed in response. "Billy says we're stuck with them until we get our bodies back," he told the teenage girl, who sighed and nodded. Tanya and Aisha didn't looked pleased to hear that news. "You guys alright?" he asked, looking at the second and third yellow rangers over Trini's shoulder.

"She might not hit you, but I'm pretty sure I'm an adolescent because of you. Be thankful I swore I wouldn't hit you in front of my children," Aisha told him, her eyes narrowing into a glare. Tanya raised her eyebrows at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I can take the kids upstairs," Rocky replied to his diminutive wife. "The last few days haven't exactly been a picnic for us," he told the green clad teenager.

"Sorry," Tommy muttered, running his hand over the back of his head. He wasn't exactly pleased that he was saying that word a lot. Still, it needed to be said. It was his fault.

"Dr. O?" Ethan asked, not entirely sure he'd caught on as quickly as the three regressed women had.

"Doing alright Ethan?" Tommy replied to the teenager, a look of concern on his face, confirming the answer to Ethan's question. The fifteen year old version barely knew Ethan and would never have looked at the 'older' teenager in a way that suggested responsibility. Ethan took a deep inhale and nodded. "So what now?"

"Sleep," Billy stated. "Seriously, I think I might pass out," he added.

"You earned it," Trent told him with a laugh. "Cause I'd about had it with dealing with Ethan flinching every time I came near him," he added in, and Ethan frowned, his mind searching for the reason behind Trent's statement.

"I guess maybe we could go back to the beach today," Kimberly volunteered.

"I have no desire to go out in public like this," Tommy told her, shaking his head in the negative.

"Then you probably don't want to hear that you've all been going out in public like this all week," Kira replied. "You even danced with a girl," she added with a snicker. Kimberly laughed weakly, while Tommy paled in response to what Kira shared with him. The rest of the group of former rangers laughed at Tommy's misfortune.

"As much fun as humiliating Tommy sounds," Tanya stated, "I kind of agree. Going out in public when I thought I was eighteen doesn't sound so horrible, but knowing I'm not supposed to be eighteen," she stated, with a shudder.

"Yeah, let's just stay here, like, forever," Aisha continued.

"Or until Billy's had his nap and then we can try to fix the rest of this," Trini added in. "Doesn't your friend Haley get back today too?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah, between her, Billy, and I," he stated with a grin at the idea of working alongside Billy yet again, "we should be able to come up with something."

"I'll help," Trini added in, and Jason shot her a look.

"I'm not too sure how I feel about you helping. The last time you did that, you turned into a teenager," Jason told his wife. Trini put both hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. "Or you could help; that's fine too," he added, as Trini smirked and nodded once, before turning walking towards the two toddlers. She offered her hand down to each of them. Both took her hands and allowed her to lead them upstairs.

Trini's exit seemed to be the cue for everyone else to leave the basement as well, each falling into groups of quiet conversation. Kimberly was adamant about getting Billy set up in the guest room. Aisha and Tanya were giggling with Kat, Zack and Adam fell into conversation about lunch, while Rocky threw his free arm over Jason's shoulder as the first red ranger questioned his sanity in marrying a yellow. Tommy followed the group of actual adult rangers up the stairs quietly, still trying to determine how he felt about the four unexpected arrivals, leaving Kira, Connor, Trent, and Ethan to bring up the rear.

"Can I talk to you guys or a minute?" Ethan asked, just as Connor started to ascend the stairs ahead of the rest of the rest of his team. He paused, and looked at Ethan, then turned over his head to call Tommy back. "Just you three," Ethan amended and all three teenagers frowned, Connor moving back towards them.

"What's up Ethan?" Trent asked him.

"How bad was I?" Ethan questioned bluntly.

"You were fine dude," Connor replied with a smirk. He hugged Ethan over the shoulder with one arm, and patted his chest with the other. "Seriously, it was no big deal."

"Don't lie to me Connor," Ethan scolded his best friend. Connor's grin fell as he let Ethan extricate himself from his hold. "I mean it guys, how bad was I?"

"Well," Trent stated, running his hand over the back of his head. "You gotta remember, you kinda thought I was evil," he stated and Ethan sighed and shook his head. He had a really good idea of how he'd have reacted to Trent if he still thought the former white ranger was out to get him.

"Trent, I'm really sorry. You know I know you couldn't control it," Ethan replied, but he knew there was more. He knew it wasn't just about Trent being evil, even as Trent gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. "What else?"

"Ethan," Kira started, moving towards him and laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "It was an older version of you. That wasn't you anymore."

"What did I do Kira?" Ethan asked, his eyes locked onto hers, begging or answers. Trent's comment about flinching weighed on him. He knew how the device worked. He would have been regressed back in time to whatever period he'd been thinking about. And while he didn't remember much about what was going on in the basement when the memory display device had completely and totally failed, exploding into a charred hunk of metal, Ethan knew what the topic was. He'd gone back to very early on as a ranger, to a point where Trent had not been a teammate or a friend, but rather an enemy. He'd gone back to a point where, yeah, being a super hero was cool, but Connor was still a jock and Kira was just another girl, despite that they were being forced together to save Reefside and the rest of the world from Mesogog and his cronies. "Whatever it is, I'm really sorry."

"You said some things," Kira told him. "All you cared about was going to MIT next month," she stated, not wanting to lie to him. She tore her gaze away from his, and grabbed one wrist with the other, letting her hand slide up and down her arm as she thought about it.

Ethan stayed quiet, he didn't know what to say. College, MIT, everything he'd ever dreamed about was a month away. And the Ethan who'd been present for nearly the last week had thought nothing else was more important. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that MIT was still everything, but it was in Boston, and Connor, Kira, Trent, and Dr. Oliver weren't. And he wanted to be the Ethan who was thrilled and excited to be going, but that would mean being the Ethan who didn't really care about his teammates that much.

"Ethan?" Connor pipped up, watching the blue clad individual stare at his shoes. "You're excited about leaving, aren't you?"

Ethan sighed and ran his hand over his face. "Not about leaving, Connor. Not after everything we've been through," he stated, shaking his head. "I'm happy about MIT, but," he began.

"It's alright you know," Trent told him. "Being happy, being excited," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. They were all silent for a few moments. "I think it's going to be very different for us, then it is for them, you know?"

"What do you mean?" Connor asked. He'd perched on the edge of Tommy's desk, both hands on either side of him gripping the surface, while his ankles were crossed. He'd torn his gaze away from his feet to look up at his friend and sometimes rival. He knew that Trent meant the older former rangers when he spoke of 'them', but he wasn't sure what Trent meant by different.

"We weren't friends before being rangers," Ethan volunteered, following Trent's train of thought. "Ranger history," he added in. "Most of them knew each other before becoming Power Rangers. Dr. O and Katherine," he stated, although the second pink ranger's name came out like a question, to which Kira nodded that he was right, "they're the exceptions."

"They can go on being close after the power because that's how it was before hand," Trent went on. "We don't know much about Kat, but we've seen firsthand how well Dr. O was able to maintain his relationships once they weren't rangers anymore," he went on. Ethan seemed to understand what he was saying, while Connor and Kira both frowned at them. "I mean… we were all separate before being rangers. We didn't really know each other. I mean, I was new, but you three, weren't exactly friends. We had dreams and ambitions that didn't go together and we didn't need to take anyone else into consideration. We never knew what it was like to be a unit before we had to be one. So I think it's going to be a lot harder to stay close to each other now that we don't need to be a unit."

Kira's frown turned into a glare. She folded her arms over her chest. "We aren't separate anymore," she argued. She wasn't entirely sure why Trent was talking about this. Yeah, they didn't need to fight Mesogog together anymore, and they couldn't exactly morph, but that mean they weren't a group? Did that mean they weren't a team anymore? Did any of the guys even want to be one?

"No," Trent affirmed. "We're not separate," he added. "But that doesn't mean those same dreams and ambitions aren't there. It just means that we have more to consider if we still want to follow them. Ethan's always wanted to go to MIT. And without his strong feelings of friendship for Connor, you, or myself," Trent stated, talking to the group, but focusing on Kira, "well, you saw how excited his was. He's excited now. He just doesn't want to hurt us," he added in.

"Is he right?" Connor said, turning to Ethan. The blue clad individual slumped his shoulders and nodded. "You could have told us," the former red ranger told him.

"And if I had?" Ethan stated. "Connor, over the last year, you became my best friend, and I know you care what happens to me. So do you really think it's easy for me to show how happy I am to be going to MIT? You've got your soccer camp, but you're not leaving. I am. And I want to be happy about it, and talk about going off to college, but the flip side to that is leaving you guys."

"I am leaving," Connor muttered.

"What?" Kira and Ethan stated, startled by his admission. Connor shrugged his shoulders and looked away from them. He pushed himself away from the desk and walked a bit away from them.

"I was invited to join a club team in Italy in the fall," Connor explained, his back to them. "It doesn't start till late September," he went on. "I've got a chance to play in Europe and maybe someday join a professional team," he added in. "I figured, Ethan would be at MIT before I had to go and…" he trailed off. He knew that meant he was still leaving Kira and Trent behind.

"I picked a school," Trent offered up since they were admitting things. Kira, who'd been staring at Connor, her mouth open, betrayal written on her face, tensed up. Connor turned around, his eyes falling on the former white ranger. "I sent in my deposit last week. Rhode Island School of Design," he stated, his voice trailing off at the end. "They're the best school in the country," he added, a bit louder, looking up at Kira, pleading in his eyes. She stared back, speechless. He'd picked Rhode Island and he hadn't tell her? Connor was leaving for Europe? Ethan was going to Boston. And what would she be doing? "Kira?" Trent asked, moving toward her.

"Leave me alone," she stated, pushing past him. She moved towards the back wall of the lab and pressed a button on the stone. A panel slid back, revealing the back entrance to the lab. She glanced over her shoulder. "Tell Adam what he said about being lonely is pure bullshit," she stated, before disappearing thought the exit. Trent made to follow her, but Connor put his hand on Trent's shoulder.

"She needs time, dude," he stated simply, feeling Trent slump beneath his hold. The white clad teenager's shoulders hung forward, but he nodded. He could read Kira's body language better than Connor. Everything about her had warned that she'd kill them all if they came near her any time soon. He wasn't entirely sure he blamed her.

"We're all going to end up like Dr. O and his friends, aren't we?" Ethan asked. Connor and Trent knew he didn't mean after their little trip to the past four months before.

"I hope not, Ethan," Connor replied, shaking his head. "Come on, let's head upstairs and see what's going on," he added, though his heart was very much not in it. He'd made a promise, months before, to Kira, Connor, and Trent. He wouldn't let their relationships disintegrate. He was the leader. This was his responsibility. He couldn't fail. But he wasn't sure how he was going to accomplish it. He was pretty sure Trent was right and the odds were definitely stacked against them.

The three dino thunder teenagers emerged from the basement into a surprisingly very quiet house. Immediately they were confused and suspicious. With a house full of former rangers, two toddlers, and an infant, quiet was not something they expected, and it made them slightly nervous. Each of the teenagers exchanged confused looks and a few shrugs of the shoulder as they maneuvered their way into the living room, finally hearing chatter.

Out through the back door they could see Trini, Aisha, Tanya, and Kat on the deck talking. Luke had been transferred to his carrier and was set at his now more responsible mother's feet as he slept. Rocky, Jason, and Zack were in the middle of the grass with Katie and Tyler. Rocky appeared to be giving Tyler his first martial arts lesson, with the first red and black rangers' help. While Katie, not wanting to be left out, imitated them. Adam and Tommy sat in the living room talking quietly, but there was no sign of either the first blue or pink rangers. They figured Billy must have retreated to the guest room to get some much needed sleep, but Kimberly's absence surprised them.

"Hey Dr. O," Connor spoke up as they entered the living room, and allowed themselves to find seat. Tommy had reclaimed his arm chair from Connor, leaving the teenage former red ranger to fall onto the sofa beside Adam, while Trent and Ethan sat on the two seater love seat. "Where's Kim?"

Tommy shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Napping. She said she was exhausted and needed to lie day. I'm hoping she's feeling alright," he stated, though he seemed to be lost in thought, and definitely worried about her. Connor opened his mouth to reply, but instantly caught a warning glace from Adam. Connor blinked for a moment as he realized that his mentor had forgotten everything that had happened over the last week, including the key piece of information he'd learned the evening before. Kimberly would kill him if Connor was the one to refresh that memory.

"You guys were downstairs for a while. Everything ok?" Adam asked them, changing the topic of conversation off of the exhausted and missing pink ranger.

"Where's Kira?" Tommy asked before the real teenagers could reply, realizing that another of his female teammates was apparently not where he'd thought she should be. "I thought she stayed downstairs with you," he added, frowning.

"She's…" Trent began, sending a helpless look at both Ethan and Connor.

"She's pretty pissed at us right now," Connor explained.

"What did you do now?" Tommy asked the former red ranger. He was pretty sure Connor and his soccer ball were the cause of the entire fiasco, and as a result knew Kim wanted to kill him. Tommy wouldn't be surprised if Aisha, Tanya, and Trini decided their own problems were essentially due to Connor as well. But, Connor had said us, meaning the teenager who typically sported yellow was angry at more than just her former red teammate.

"Connor and Trent revealed that come fall, they're heading to Italy and Rhode Island," Ethan stated. "She already knew I was going to Boston," he added in. Tommy frowned for a moment. He didn't need Ethan's clarification on which of the teenagers were going where. That was a given. "She didn't exactly take it well," Ethan finished, running his hand over his face.

"She said to tell Adam that what he told her about being lonely is pure bullshit?" Connor asked more than stated, not entirely sure what Kira had meant, as he looked at the black clad individual.

Adam exhaled and muttered "Shit," shaking his head. "Is she still downstairs?"

"She's gone," Tommy stated, without even needing to check with his most recent former teammates. He'd known the teenager long enough to know that when she was upset, she needed her space. If she was upset at her teammates, she would not have stuck around. She hadn't come upstairs, so he'd put a major guess on the fact that she'd used one of the back exits of the lab to escape unnoticed and unquestioned. "Adam, what did you talk to her about? You didn't encourage her, did you?" He'd spoken with Adam quite a bit in the last two months about his worries about the four former dino thunder teens, specifically Kira. She'd exhibited the most reluctance to move on.

"She didn't need my encouragement Tommy," Adam argued, completely confusing the three actual teenagers in the room. "She was already part of the group, and if I hadn't spoken to her, she'd probably be worse off than she is now," he added in, shaking his head.

"What are you talking about?" Connor asked, not following the two former green rangers in the room. He didn't like not understanding. Neither did Ethan or Trent. Both were leaning forward, confusion on their faces.

"It's not really something you three need to know about," Tommy told them, getting a glare from Adam. He sighed and relented. "Some rangers have a hard time letting go of the power when it happens. They're just not ready."

"You?" Trent asked, raising his eyebrow at his physically regressed mentor. Tommy sighed and nodded, running his hand through his hair. "Adam?"

"Guilty," the second black ranger replied with a nod. "And Kira," he stated. "She's really struggling with it," he added in, "but she didn't want you guys to know. But you all just told her you're heading off onto the next phases of your lives," he went on.

"Which is a good thing," Tommy assured the three teenagers.

"Yes," Adam assured them, "it is definitely a good thing," he added, thinking back to how angry he'd been with Rocky for moving on and having a life, especially after Aisha had shown up. He'd been pissed. But as he'd gotten older, he'd realized that Rocky moving on was exactly what the former red and blue ranger needed. It had been good for him, even if Adam had liked it; even if he'd felt left behind and confused as to why he couldn't just let go of the morphing grid like everyone else.

"She's just confused," Tommy continued. He knew that feeling more than everyone else. If he'd stuck around, he would have realized Adam was in the same boat, but they'd both handled it differently. "She thinks she's going to be alone."

"Won't she be?" Trent asked, startling both of the older men. "Don't take this the wrong way. I know she'll have you all, and Kim, and Aisha, and Tanya, and clearly the list goes on, but we're her team. If we go away from her, well, our friendships weren't as strong as all of yours before you were rangers."

"Before doesn't matter, Trent," Tommy told him.

"Dr. O, you didn't know any of the others before you became a ranger, and we've seen what happened after," Connor argued. "I don't want that to happen to us."

Tommy shook his head and sighed. "It won't; not if you don't want it to. I'm responsible for what happened, not my relationship with everyone beforehand," he explained, still seeing that three dino thunder teenagers didn't fully believe him. "If you don't believe me, look at Kat. She started with the team nearly the same way I did. Didn't know anyone," he explained.

"Tommy's right about that," Adam assured Connor, Trent, and Ethan. "Kat never drifted apart from any of us. She even talks to Kim fairly often and they never served on the team together," Adam explained. "Our friendships prior to being rangers just made it easier to work together. You all figured out how to do that without the aid of prior friendship. If you ask me, I think that fact will make your bond stronger not weaker."

"The morphing gird knows what it's doing by giving you each the opportunities it is. There's a reason Kira hasn't been able to let go of power. She might not know what it is yet, but there is a reason," Tommy explained.

"What's the reason you guys didn't let right away?" Trent asked.

"No clue," Tommy laughed. "Still waiting to learn everything," he added in.

"And who said we've let go," Adam asked them, raising his eyebrow a smirk on his face. "You guys think we should go after Kira? Make sure she's alright?"

"No," Tommy said at the same time as Connor, Trent, and Ethan, proving even further that the guys on the most recent team of power rangers knew their female teammate. "When she's ready and wants to talk about it, she'll come back," Tommy continued. The room was quiet for a few moments, allowing Tommy to hear tires on the gravel out front. He frowned and disappeared into the foyer for a moment, immediately returning, his face slightly white, and a tiny bead of sweat on his brow.

"What's wrong?" Connor asked him, noticing that the regressed adult wasn't heading back to the living room, but rather towards the stairs to the basement.

"On second thought, I've got a feeling Kira might really need someone to talk to. I'll go find her," he stated, and before anyone could argue, or shake themselves out of their surprise enough to follow him, the green clad physical teenager had disappeared down the steps to the basement at a speed that might have rivaled Connor's extra power. The four individuals left in the living room exchanged questioning stunned looks, until the front door of Tommy's home opened.

"I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him!" a new female voice entered the room ahead of its owner. Connor leapt off the sofa and dove behind the loveseat, positioning Trent and Ethan in between him and the red headed woman who'd just arrived, looking thoroughly pissed off and exhausted. Connor wasn't sure if 'him' meant himself or Tommy, but he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know.

"Uh… hi Haley," Trent finally spoke up, as Connor tried to crouch lower behind the sofa. Tommy was a bigger coward than he was, leaving him to face Haley's wrath alone, and, assuming he survived the encounter, Connor was going to kill his mentor. "Did you have a good trip?"

The red headed woman just stared at Trent in response as if she thought that maybe he'd actually gone insane. How on earth could she have had a good trip if since Monday, she'd known that her best friend had regressed himself into a teenager, and then the same device responsible for his own demise had done the same thing to four other people. She pursed her lips and positioned both hands on her hips, cocking her head at the former white ranger.

"I'll take that as a no," Trent stated with a bit of a nervous laugh. While he was pretty sure that the 'him' Haley had spoken of was either Connor or Tommy, there was always a slight chance that he was the aim of Haley's wrath, and he didn't want to piss her off any further.

"Good guess," Haley told him, rolling her eyes. She exhaled and gazed around the room, finding Adam and Ethan, and the top of what she was pretty sure was Connor's head. "Get out from there," she told the former ranger leader.

"I don't want to die," Connor responded, though he did raise his head up slightly so that his eyes and the bridge of his nose was visible over the back of the love seat between Ethan and Trent.

"Then you shouldn't have done something so stupid," Haley retorted, shifting her weight from one foot to another and moving her arms so they were now crossed over her chest. She continued to glare in the direction of the red clad teenager, as the sliding glass door opened, admitting three teenage girls and one woman. Haley frowned for a moment, realizing two of the girls looked familiar, especially since one of them was carrying a sleeping baby in a carrier. The third teenager and the woman Haley had never met, but Kim had shown her pictures, so she did know of them at least.

"Haley! Thank goodness you're here," Aisha stated, as she and the others women came inside. She caught sight of Connor hiding behind the love seat and frowned. "Want to kill Connor?" she asked the non-ranger woman. "I'll help," Aisha offered.

"We all would," Tanya agreed with a laugh, stepping around Aisha to hug Haley in greeting. Haley, surprised, hugged her back, a questioning look on her face.

"Ok," Haley drew out each individual syllable slowly as Tanya traded places with her predecessor to allow Aisha to side hug Haley. "Not that I'm not completely thrilled that you two know who I am," she stated, "but how is that possible? Last time I spoke with anyone, it was pretty clear that the regression victims only had memories up to their physical ages."

"Billy's here Haley," Ethan stated, knowing that it would be explanation enough. Adam and Trent both nodded, as Haley's expression shifted from uncertainty into a smile.

"Well, that's a bit of good news," Haley laughed, shaking her head. "So he managed to get your minds back? All of you?"

"Yes, thankfully," Aisha laughed as Luke stirred slightly in his carrier. She set it down on the floor and began to unstrap him. "The guys would come in and say hello," she went on, "but Katie and Tyler are actually being occupied and they didn't want to interrupt that," she added.

"Not a problem," Haley replied with an understanding nod, casting her gaze outside. Rocky happened to glance up at that moment and smile and wave to her. She waved back and shook her head. Rocky she knew, the other two, well, again, Kim had shown her pictures. "So, that's Jason and Zack?" Haley asked, as Adam took his turn hugging a now much calmer Haley, glad the girls had stepped inside before there had been any bloodshed. He was pretty sure, former ranger or not, Connor would not have survived.

"Yep," Adam told her. "And this is Trini and Katherine," he added, gesturing to the third yellow clad teenager and the woman in pink.

"I knew Trini, Jason, and Zack were here," Haley explained, as she shook hands with each of the women Adam had just introduced, "but Katherine's a surprise."

"Tanya decided she needed her best friend and called me on Tuesday. I got in Wednesday evening," Katherine explained, as Tanya blushed red and cast her gaze to her feet.

"I should have taken her cell phone," Adam muttered.

"Hey," Tanya laughed in response, looking at her fiancé. "Even regressed fully regressed, I was still eighteen and didn't need a guardian," she told him, crossing her arms over her chest. Adam raised an eyebrow at her and then gestured to Katherine, as if making a point.

Tanya smirked and shook her head, dropping her crossed arms. "Yeah, well, that worked out for the best," she laughed. "Tommy needs to fix his relationship with everyone," she explained, and Adam did have to nod agreement at that.

"Speaking of Tommy," Trini stated, looking around the room. "Wasn't he in here with you?" she asked the second black ranger, who nodded.

"Kira, Kim and Billy are missing as well," Haley stated, taking a mental inventory of everyone that she knew to be in the Oliver/Hart house.

"Billy and Kim are napping," Adam explained. "Billy didn't sleep at all. He arrived in the middle of the night and immediately got to work fixing them," he added, gesturing to the regressed individuals. "He was up all night," he stated, and Haley nodded her understanding. "Kim wasn't feeling well and needed to lay down for a bit," he added in, noticing the thoughtful looks on Aisha, Trini, and Katherine's faces. They all knew why, but Haley didn't and it wasn't their place to tell.

"Kira's a little upset at the moment, she ran off and Dr. O went after her," Connor stated, emerging from his hiding place now that he was pretty sure that Haley wasn't actually going to kill him, and if she tried, there were more than enough bodies to bob and weave between to avoid her. He might not have his super speed any longer, but he was definitely fast enough to evade capture by Haley.

"Tommy's minds back to normal as well?" Haley asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer. Memories or not, the Tommy she knew would have volunteered to test out Billy's solution before allowing anyone else to try it to make sure it was safe. That and Connor had referred to him as 'Dr. O'. Several individuals around her nodded. "Great, so there's a fifteen year old adult running around Reefside, without his cell phone?" she asked, spotting the device on the charger on the end table. As a fifteen year old, Tommy hadn't used it all week, but it had died and he'd wanted it back now that his mind was restored. He'd forgotten to grab it in his mad dash out of the house. "Why didn't one of you go after her instead?" she asked the three teenagers. Ethan may have been a victim of the chair as well, but his physical changes were definitely the least noticeable. He'd have been perfectly fine on his own in Reefside.

"Well… you see…" Connor began.

"We're kind of the reason she's upset," Ethan explained. Adam, having heard the story wasn't surprised, but all four former ranger women in the room were definitely stunned to hear that Kira was angry at all three of her teenage teammates. Haley studied the three teenage boys for several moments, hands on her hips.

"You told her about Italy and Rhode Island, didn't you?" Haley finally asked Connor and Trent. Kira had already known about Ethan going to MIT, but finding out about her other two teammates was definitely a blow and would have made her mad at Ethan as well.

"How'd you know?" Adam asked the woman.

"She's Haley," Ethan explained, "she knows everything!" he added in as Connor and Trent nodded.

"Well," Haley said, "she was going to find out sooner or later. There were probably better ways than just telling her all at once," she told the three teenage boys in front of her, correctly guessing that that's exactly what they'd done, "but what's done is done," she stated, shaking her head at the three teenagers, who ducked their heads and took Haley's scolding. They did feel bad about how they'd told Kira, but they'd kind of been hoping that Kira would reveal something of her own and they could all congratulate one another and be excited together. The thought that Kira was really upset about their powers being gone and their lives changing hadn't really occurred to them. "Alright," she stated, turning to head towards the basement. "I'm going to start seeing if we can't get the five of you guys back to normal as soon as possible," she explained. "Someone tell me when Tommy gets back, so I can kick his ass," she stated, before heading down into the basement.

* * *

Well, he was definitely officially stupid. About ten minutes after he'd bolted like a frightened rabbit from its den, he'd realized he'd left his cell phone behind. Which was problematic in multiple ways. It meant he didn't have a way of finding out if Haley was calm enough to return, nor did anyone back at his house have a way of contacting him. Further, it was already well after lunch and he had yet to even get a trace of where Kira had vanished to.

For the first hour or so, he'd sort of just wandered around Reefside aimlessly, once he'd made it through the woods that surrounded his home and back into town. Going after the former yellow ranger had simply been an excuse to avoid facing Haley just a little longer. Besides, if he found Kira before she'd had the chance to cool off, she may have very well taken her anger out on him.

But after he hadn't found her at Cyberspace, the park, the beach, or even the center of town, Tommy had started to get worried. He'd even gone to the mall, which was definitely a dangerous place for him to be considering his current appearance, and hadn't had any luck finding her. With his stomach growling, he decided he'd try one last place before heading back to the house and hoping Haley was calm enough to forgive him for playing around with the device she'd specifically told him wasn't finished.

The summer heat seemed to be affecting the top of the cliffs overlooking the ocean just as much as it was affecting the rest of Reefside. There was barely any breeze to cool him off as he reached the top and gazed around, his eyes landing on the secluded beach where he'd almost lost Kim permanently four months before. The water there was choppy, and the ocean floor was littered with the rocks from where the cliffs dropped off. A swimming beach, it was not, and as such, it was usually deserted, which was good since he'd spent way too much time in uniform on it. A small wild trail lead from the crest where he stood down onto the sandy shore below and he was a bit relieved to find that for once, it wasn't deserted.

A lone teenage girl sat in the sand, her knees pulled up against her chest, under the shade created by the cliffs, just beyond the reach of the water's beak line. Her hair was pulled up in a high pony tail on top of her head. She was staring out over the water, silently. If Tommy didn't know better, he would have been concerned about how still she was. He sighed, and began the trek down the cliff, and then through the sand, not bothering to hide his footsteps. She was settled, she wouldn't bolt, and she couldn't use her ptera scream to scare him off.

He knew she heard him approaching by the way her body shifted slightly when he was a few feet away. However, Kira never turned around to look at him, instead keeping her gaze firmly fixated on the ocean and the way the sun's rays bounced off of it. Tommy inhaled deeply and shook his head slightly. "They didn't mean to hurt you, you know," he spoke. Kira made no outward indication that she'd even heard him. He waited silently for a moment. "Can I join you?" he asked. She hadn't yelled at him or told him to go away. He was hopeful that meant she'd be open to talking, or at the very least, just listening. For a moment she didn't move, but finally, she gave him the response of slightly shrugging her shoulders, indicating she didn't care either way, or at least that's what she wanted to convey.

Tommy sighed and moved toward her, sitting down in the sand and drawing his knees up, as Kira relaxed hers down and sat cross legged in the sand. She didn't look at him, but continued to look straight ahead. Tommy turned his head toward her and watched her for a few moments. Kira wasn't even attempted to hide the tears that were slowly and silently falling from her eyes. Tommy sighed again, quietly, realizing that for once she wasn't just angry at the guys. She was really hurting.

They sat in silence or a while, Kira watching the ocean waves beat the sand, Tommy watching his younger teammate. Finally, when her tears seemed to have subsided enough that Tommy was confident that she'd verbally be able to respond, if she wanted to, he spoke, his voice quiet and just barely audible above the crash of the waves on the rocks. "It will be ok, you know," he told her gently. Kira responded without turning to look at him with a disbelieving snort of laughter through her tears. "I didn't say it is ok, just that it will be, eventually.

"Adam told me he spoke to you about those of us who don't move on as easily. I'm sorry you're one of us," Tommy continued. "And trust me, I know how badly it sucks when none of your other teammates feel the same way. But you can't begrudge them the opportunities they've been given," Tommy went on. "It'll just eat away at you. You're upset because you care about them. Well, if you care about them that deeply, then you know you have to let them go."

They were both silent for a while before Kira finally spoke. "They're leaving me behind," she told him.

"Yes," Tommy replied with a nod. "They are leaving," he confirmed. "Ethan's going to Boston, Trent to Rhode Island, and Connor's going to Italy. They won't be here in Reefside," he stated, not trying to sugar coat things. "But that doesn't mean they're leaving you behind or that they won't be back."

"Dr. O, face it. They're done being rangers. Sure they enjoyed it and they're glad we saved the world and everything, but they're ready to do other things. They won't come back," Kira argued. She was eighteen years old, powerless, frustrated, and lonely. Logic and reason were not her strong point at the moment.

"You mean to Reefside, or to you?" Tommy asked her, and Kira grew silent, turning her gaze away from her feet and and back out over the ocean. "Kira," Tommy stated, with a sharp exhale. "You aren't me," he went on. "You're not going to lose your friends because they're taking steps towards their next phase of life.

"Here's my understanding of how this works. Take it for what it's worth, because I don't really think it's much," he told her when she didn't respond. "Earth needs its protectors; it's superheroes, who are going to step in when it's in danger. The morphing grid does a good job of finding those superheroes, but unlike the comic books, the morphing grid chooses humans. We are human Kira. We have needs and wants and desires outside of saving the world. If we keep the power forever we'll burn out. The Power Rangers won't be as effective," he went on. "So the morphing grid monitors us. It knows when it's time for each of us to get our break. Sometimes it's permanent. Other times, well, it may just be for a short while. And the morphing grid gives you a reward, if you're smart enough to take it. It gives you a family."

"You weren't smart enough?" Kira asked. While it could have been a joke at his expense, Tommy knew Kira was being serious. He bit his lip and shook his head.

"I'm really lucky that the morphing grid gave me a second chance," he stated.

"Traveling back in time four months ago," Kira stated, with a nod. She cast her gaze to the sand.

"Yes, and no," Tommy told her. "That was a consequence of it, but my second chance was with you four. You, Connor, and Ethan finding the dino gems, becoming the black ranger, and being there for Trent when he needed it. Getting my first family back was a side effect, but Dino Thunder was my second chance," he told her, seeing a slight smile on her face for the first time since he'd sat down beside her. "Listen Kira, you guys are smarter than I was. You're not going to let your relationship's disintegrate. Doesn't even matter if one of you goes off planet in the future," he stated, getting a slight laugh from the teenage girl. "You're not going to give up the morphing grid's gift."

"How can you be sure?" Kira asked him, and Tommy smirked.

"Because you've already shown it," Tommy told her. "You lost your powers months ago, but Haley, Kim, and I rarely see you four apart. Your powers brought you together, but you made yourselves a family. Just because the guys are starting something new, doesn't mean they're going to let go of the old. Going away is a hard decision. Connor, Ethan, and Trent didn't make them lightly."

"You've known?" Kira asked him, fighting the little bit of hurt that welled up in her chest that they'd told Tommy but not her. Tommy nodded, balancing his arms on top of his knees and looking out at the water.

"Each of them spoke to me alone; they were questioning leaving each other and you. Not knowing if they were making the right decisions. Specifically about leaving you. They knew something was wrong."

"They did?" she was surprised by that. The three teenage guys on her team had never been incredibly observant. She'd thought she'd hidden her reluctance to let go of being the yellow ranger well. Apparently she hadn't.

Tommy laughed slightly at her surprise. "Of course they did. Kira, they care about you. I do too," he stated. "That's why I didn't talk to you about it earlier. I was hoping I was wrong about you. Hoping that you'd find what's next for you soon and be able to let go."

Kira gave another snort of laughter, tinged in sarcasm. She shook her head and let her eyes wander back out over the ocean. "Yeah, that's not happening," she replied. "I don't get it. I didn't even want to be a ranger in the first place," she told him. "Why can't I just move on?"

"That's a question I wish I could answer for you," Tommy replied, "but I can't. I don't know why the morphing grid does much of what it does. If I did, life would be a whole lot simpler, you know?" he added and Kira nodded. "But I do know you won't be alone. Not like I was, or even Adam. You've got a big family, and a couple of us have an idea of what you're going through. I promise I'll be here to talk if you need it," he told her.

"Thanks, Dr. O," she replied, sighing, and brushing the last few tears off her cheek with the bottom of her shirt, as Tommy nodded once.

"And give the guys a break," he told her with a grin. "They probably didn't pick the best time to tell you, but I know for a fact they never meant to hurt you."

Kira shook her head and exhaled sharply again, followed by a shrug. "I know," she told Tommy. "I just… well, Trent and I," she began. "It's only been four months. I'm not ready for it to be over, you know?"

"No one said it has to be," Tommy told her, although he did remember exactly what had happened following his own attempt at a long distance relationship. Still, despite their similarities, Trent wasn't him, and Kira wasn't Kimberly. "You need to talk to him," he advised her. "And sitting out on the beach alone is not going to accomplish that," he added in and Kira smiled slightly, nodding her head. They were both quiet for a few minutes, Kira taking in everything Tommy had told her, while Tommy was just enjoying being away from the chaos that was still going on back at his house.

"You know," Kira stated, finally turning away from the water and looking at Tommy beside her. "Listening to you was a lot easier when I didn't look. It's hard to take you seriously when you look like a little kid," she told him with a grin on her face.

"Haha, real funny," Tommy told her, giving her a playful glare in response. "You have been spending way too much time with Connor," he added in, and Kira smirked. "You ready to head back? Cause I didn't bring my phone and Kim's probably freaking out," he added in.

"What, that her teenage boyfriend is lost somewhere in Reefside?" Kira teased, though she stood up and dusted the sand off her legs. Tommy wasn't entirely pleased to see that they were nearly the same height when he stood up beside her.

"Keep laughing," he told her, shaking his head and leading her back towards the road that ran past the beach, instead of up the cliff which would be the longer home.

They fell into step beside each other quietly for a few moments before Kira finally spoke up as they reached the center of town. "So, who sent you after me?"

Tommy laughed and shook his head. "No one really," he stated, shaking his head. "I kinda up… figured you might want to talk," he stated.

"Dr. O," Kira laughed, "don't take this the wrong way, but for one, you specifically stated you did not want to be caught dead in public as a fifteen year old; and two, you have never once come after me for fear I'll go all 'yellow ranger' on you," she told him, with a laugh in her voice. Tommy gave her a guilty smile. "Haley's here, huh?"

"Yep," Tommy replied. "But you did need to talk," he laughed, and Kira nodded.

"Thanks for being a coward, Dr. O," Kira teased him, casting her gaze around. "Uh oh," she stated, dropping her voice lower. "Incoming at two o'clock," she muttered, as Tommy's gaze shifted to a frown and he peered in the direction that she indicated.

"Hey Kira! Hey Tommy," the blond teenager called out as she and her boyfriend approached them on the nearly empty street. Tommy groaned quietly. "How's it going?" Cassidy added as she and Devin fell into step beside the two former rangers. Tommy drifted immediately into silence.

"Pretty well actually," Kira replied, not exactly minding the presence of the two other teenagers, considering Tommy wore a slight blush. It was funny watching him squirm slightly. "How about you guys? Any news to share?"

Devin actually laughed a bit. "Actually yeah," he stated, casting a look at the adult in the teenager's body. "You remember what we told you about on Tuesday?"

Kira followed Devin's gaze toward Tommy and smirked, nodding. "Let me guess, they're still talking about him?"

"Talking? They're gossiping about him," Cassidy giggled, throwing one arm over Tommy's shoulder suddenly as they walked. The teenage boy froze, the slight blush on his cheeks immediately intensifying. Kira had seen him blush before, but she was pretty sure the red color had never surpassed the color of a red ranger suit before.

"They're what?" Kira laughed, surprise evident on her face.

"Yep," Cassidy stated with a laugh. "The younger high schoolers think Tommy here is the cutest thing and are really hoping the rumors that he's leaving soon aren't true," she added in. "And I mean, who could blame them," she asked. "He is adorable," she added with a grin before giving Tommy a peck on the cheek. Devin's eyes went wide as she did it.

A moment before Kira was positive that Tommy could not have turned any brighter red. She'd clearly been wrong. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open, though her amusement was evident on her face. "Cassidy," she laughed, not sure if she was enjoying Tommy's discomfort or what she was sure would happen next more. "What will you do if he remembers you did that after we get him back to normal?"

Cassidy shrugged, her arm still wrapped around Tommy's shoulders. "Doubt he will," she stated, not realizing that Tommy was taking in the conversation around him. So, Cassidy and Devin knew who he really was, and Cassidy was having fun teasing him because she thought that Tommy wouldn't remember.

Internally, he fought to quell his teenage emotions. Pretty teenage girl hugging him around the shoulders and kissing his cheek. Yes, Kimberly was the love of his life. Always had been. But that didn't mean that his body wouldn't react when a girl did something like Cassidy had just done. Especially when he was struggling to control his hormonally based emotions. Kimberly, he thought. He needed to get back to Kimberly.

It was probably only a span of a second or so that Kira watched the blush on Tommy's face begin to pale. The physical teenager had his eyes squeezed shut, and he was taking a few deep breaths, and then he swallowed. "Ms. Cornell? Do you really think that was appropriate?" Tommy stated, although there was a little bit of a shakiness to his voice as his adult mind fought for control of his body's responses.

Kira bit her lip into a hard straight line, laughter clearly showing in her eyes as she fought not to dissolve into hysterics as Devin's eyes got wider, and Cassidy's face paled to nearly ghostly white, despite her summer tan. Cassidy slowly, cautiously, removed her arm from around Tommy's shoulder and backed away from him slowly, her eyes meeting the slight glare that Tommy was giving her.

"Um… oh…. Sorry Dr. Oliver?" Cassidy's voice went up in a question, even though she'd clearly realized what was going on.

"Yeah," Tommy replied, raising his eyebrow at her. "Why don't we just pretend that never happened?" he asked her, to which Cassidy nodded adamantly. "You two help Connor, Kira, Ethan, and Trent cover for me?" he turned to Devin, who nodded.

"Yes sir," Devin replied, looking between Tommy, Cassidy, and Kira. Cassidy looked like she was going to pass out, and Kira looked like she was about to explode with laughter.

"Then you both have my thanks," Tommy stated with a quick nod. "With any luck everything should be fully back to normal soon," he told Devin.

Devin nodded and gave Tommy a quick smile in return. "Great. I'll make sure to spread the word that Tommy's heading home," he added and Tommy nodded. "I… well, I guess we'll catch up to you later?" Tommy nodded again, and Devin, uncertain of what else to say or do, grabbed Cassidy by the hand and headed away as fast as they could.

The moment they were gone, Kira double over in a fit of laughter, tears cascading down her face as she dissolved into hysterics. Tommy watched her for several moments, still fighting his body's urge to give in to his teenager emotions. Embarrassment was a strong one and it was threatening to win. Kira's laughter finally started to subside as Tommy fully gained control of himself. He glared at her slightly as her guffaws turned into slight giggles. "You enjoyed that didn't you?"

"Yes," Kira admitted, though she continued to snicker. "Although I'm not sure what was funnier; you blushing as red as a fire truck, or Cassidy nearly passing out when she realized your mind was back," she explained, as Tommy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"They created a cover story?" he asked his teenage teammate, who nodded again. "Well, that's good. If anyone could spread something around Reefside, it's those two. They don't know about all the others do they?"

"No," Kira stated, wiping away the last few tears. "They're good. Cassidy and Devin think Tanya and Kira are sisters and are Ethan's cousin. They think Trini is Connor's," she added with a grin when Tommy frowned at her. "Oh man, I wish you could remember that one. Trini pretended to be offended when Cassidy accused her of not being Connor's cousin because she was 'adopted'," Kira explained and even Tommy had to laugh.

"Oh boy," he smirked. "I almost feel bad for the girl," he added, catching Kira's look of disbelief. "I said almost," he added causing Kira to laugh. "Just do me a favor," he stated, "don't tell anyone what just happened? They're making fun of me enough as it is."

"Only if you swear not to tell anyone you found me crying on the beach," Kira replied back.

"Never told anyone about the last time you were crying. I'd never tell anyone about this time," he assured her with a nod as they fell into step beside each other again.

"Good to have you back, Dr. O," Kira told him, nudging him with her shoulder. "Well," she added with a laugh. "Sort of."

* * *

This is probably one of my favorite chapters thus far because it focuses on the relationship aspect. Yes, this story involves Zordon's original rangers, but its not just about them. It's about Dino Thunder as well, and I think exploring how they felt after the power was gone was important to. Flushing out the aftermath and their relationships with each other as well as with the members of the original teams is important. So yeah, as the story goes forward be prepared for all sorts of relationships to be explored. Kat, Zack, Trini, and Jason still have more to come with Tommy, and it may just take some interesting events to fix everything. Seeing Green is by far not finished yet.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review. It's nice to know what you guys like or even didn't like.

Thanks!  
Fateless Wanderer


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